The Fox Among the Mountains
by Taco and Sombrero
Summary: A hurt and beaten Naruto is found by none other that the Yamanaka clan head himself. Disgusted by the treatment the boy gets, Inoichi takes the kid under his wing, resolved to make him the strongest shinobi alive in the Elemental Nations.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**A/N: Hello, if this is your first time reading 'The Fox Among the Mountains' then let me welcome you and thank you for giving this story a try. **

**This is the revised and improved version of the first chapter, it is now much cleaner and easier to read that before. It is all thanks to MagnoliaTree who took up the job of being the Beta Reader for this story and is doing a great job so far!**

**Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, I do not own Naruto or any of its character.  
**

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**Chapter 1: Prologue**

* * *

Konohagakure no Sato, one of the five great ninja villages, known for its military power, and its influence on the shinobi world itself. The Great Tree that, no matter what, stands tall. It has participated in every Great Shinobi War, and emerged victorious.

It is the home of renowned heroes: Legends who have made a name for themselves, drenching the soil with blood and striking fear in the hearts of their enemies.

Hidden in a deep forest, it lays just below the gaze of its past guardians, now carved in stone. But even now, as the ages pass by, they keep up their job of protecting the village, the same village that saw them born.

Although the past of Konoha is bathed in glory, not everything is perfect. Any great garden, no matter how beautiful, well kept or renowned, will eventually grow weeds. Weeds which must be cut to protect the true plants, preserving the sanctity of the community. In the Village Hidden in the Leaves the weeds are traitors, and as in any other ninja village, they need to be taken care of- one way or another.

After the third Great Shinobi War, forgetting about its inner conflicts, the Leaf had lived a prosperous and peaceful life. Until the unthinkable happened.

Seven years ago Konoha was attacked, not by an enemy village, but by a demon. A giant fox, the Kyūbi no Kitsune, rampaged into the village. Unstoppable as a tornado and lethal as a plague was the fox's assault, shinobi falling in numbers only equaled by the leaves, withered in the surrounding forests as summer faded. On that cold fall night, cries for help and shrieks of agony could not be drowned out, and all over the village children cried, adding their screams to the terrible, echoing cacophony. It was a tragedy, a catastrophe, a disaster of Nature, and, for the first time since it sprouted in the Land of Fire, the Tree seemed doomed.

But then, in a flash of yellow, the fourth Fire Shadow made his way to the battlefield, resolved to stop the demon-or die trying. A shinobi of incredible power and skill, Minato Namikaze succeeded in beating the demon fox and sealed it inside a newborn baby, at the cost of his life.

Now, seven years later, the wound inflicted by the Biju is no longer bleeding, but it isn't closed and probably never will be. At nightfall Konoha will take a rest of mourning for its fallen ones.

This is an evening to celebrate the victory over the fox that threatened the Leaf. It is a time to celebrate the bravery of the lost heroes and their Will of Fire. Tonight is the tenth of October, and the leaves are dancing.

* * *

"Hime! Hime, where are you?" A frantic man called, running through the mass of people congregated at the street- bumping along the way several men and women.

The man had sandy blond hair, tied in a long ponytail reaching to his upper back. He wore blue trousers with tape wrapped at the bottoms, and a long sleeved blue shirt, below a Konoha jounin vest. On the top of the vest there was a sleeveless red coat and, completing the outfit, he wore hand guards on both arms- and the Konoha hitai-ate on his forehead.

'_Dammit Inoichi! How could you lose sight of your own daughter?'_He thought, fruitlessly searching for his daughter inside a ramen shop.

'_I need to find her soon, or Mayu will hang me on the village gates by my_ _balls! Ugh, how did I get myself into this mess! '_

Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan, was visiting the annual Yondaime festival and having fun with his daughter Ino, but then, in the blink of an eye, she just disappeared! He knew he should have taken his daughter's hand, but she had utterly refused, saying she was a big girl now. And here he was, running through the town searching for his little princess who must be on the streets -cold, hungry and frightened.

'_If someone even tries to harm my baby girl, I promise there's going to be hell to pay!' _The blond haired shinobi rounded the corner and entered an alley hoping to find his daughter without any kind of injury.

Inoichi went deeper into the dark alley. His instinct, refined by years as a shinobi, told him that something very wrong had happened there. Soon, every step he took was accompanied by the cracking of little pieces of broken glass on the floor. Occasionally, his vision would wander to a trash can, broken window or graffiti that caught his eye.

Every muscle on his body was tensed and ready to spring to action should something, or someone, jump to attack him. His senses, sharpened, tried to catch any sign of a trap. Then a somewhat strange, but familiar smell came to his nose.

'_This smell, is it iron? No it is more like blo…od' _Inoichi's heart rose to his throat and a chilly wind crept up his spine.

Blood. Something that every shinobi must be familiar with (after all, their job often consist in killing the appointed target), but that didn't mean that he had to like it.

For many shinobi, the smell or sight of blood often reminds them of everything they have lost, of all the comrades they have seen as the light fades from their eyes, and the sickly reminder that the blood stays warm, even after the bodies have turned cold.

Inoichi ran forward, following the smell. On the floor he saw a figure, lying there with its blond hair tainted by red.

The Yamanaka froze and stood there, slightly trembling, thinking the body was from his blonde daughter. On closer inspection, however he observed that the hair had a different shade when compared to Ino's platinum color.

The Jōnin took a step forward and crouched next to the body, to get a better look.

The body was of a child no more than 10 years old. Inoichi turned the body from its facedown position to see the face. The child's bruised visage had blanched because of the loss of blood, and had three whisker marks on each cheek…_'Wait, whiskers?'_

"The jinchūriki…" The jounin immediately checked his pulse and was surprised. Although weak, the boy was still alive. There was no time to lose, he needed to take the boy to the hospital, such deep wounds could only be healed by professionals-or the boy wouldn't make it.

"I can't believe it. Were the hell are the ANBU when you need them?" Inoichi took the boy in his arms and cringed from the gruesome sight.

The jinchūriki's shredded t-shirt lay forgotten on the wet floor, revealing the deep stab wounds and cuts on his chest. One particularly nasty gash ran from his left shoulder all the way to his stomach. The legs weren't much better, and Inoichi deducted from the burnt pants and legs that someone had used a fire jutsu against him.

The Yamanaka could continue inspecting the numerous wounds and scars on the boy, but he had to get moving. Using chakra, he began running up the wall and once on top of the building, the Jōnin took off, jumping from roof to roof.

_'How could someone do this?'_ thought Inoichi while jumping to the next roof_. 'Using a jutsu against a defenseless child, I never thought a ninja would sink so low…'_

* * *

"Almost there, hang on, Naruto." Said Inoichi although he knew he wouldn't get a response from the grievously injured child.

The blonde shinobi was jumping as fast and far as he could, hoping to get to the hospital sooner, he didn't want the boy to die. He just couldn't understand how people could be so stupid. '_Jinchūriki or not, he's just a little kid who hasn't done any harm to anyone_.' He had heard rumors about mobs attacking Naruto, but he hadn't thought it could that bad, and it had taken the young boy slowly bleeding to death in his arms for him to realize the truth.

"You didn't even choose to become a jinchūriki, you were made one." Said the clan head while looking down to Naruto. _'Why did Minato pick you, kid?'_

All the people who were fifteen years old, or older, by the date of October the tenth knew that the Kyūbi had been sealed inside Naruto. That information was released to the public by the Sandaime Hokage shortly after the attack ended. The Sandaime had hoped that the people would understand and respect the deceased Yondaime's wish of seeing Naruto as a hero, too bad the aged Sandaime forgot something really important about life.

'_Human ignorance knows no limit. '_Shouts of indignation and pure hate didn't take long to flood the village. People- mainly the civilians- were calling for the death of the beast that had destroyed their homes and killed their loved ones.

All the hate from the aftermath of the Kyūbi's assault was focused to the newborn jinchūriki; the Sandaime saw his mistake and created a law stating that anyone who dared to speak about Naruto's condition to any of the younger generation would be executed on the spot.

'_But it was too late… although we, the clan heads, treat Naruto like any other kids, the sons and daughters of civilians, after seeing how their parents deal with Uzumaki, started giving him the same cold attitude and in the end he ended up all alone- treated like a pariah. I should have encouraged Ino to play with him...'_As he neared the hospital, Inoichi's eyes moved to the Hokage monument and stopped at the face of Minato Namikaze.

"…The hell?" Inoichi Yamanaka came to a halt and looked down, or, more precisely, down to Naruto's face.

'_No, it can't be…_

_Minato wouldn't have left a random kid with such a burden, much less someone as lonely as an orphan._

_He wouldn't be able to ask a family to sacrifice their sons or daughters, then…_

_Who?_

_But, Kushina was pregnant…Minato and Kushina were very close to each other…'_

His eyes widened like saucers and he almost dropped Naruto, because of the shock that came with his inevitable conclusion.

'_Minato Namikaze not only sacrificed _himself_ for the village.'_

Inoichi now truly knew who he was carrying in his arms. He may be the container of the Kyubi no Kitsune…

'_He had to sacrifice something more precious to him than his own life,'_

But he is also the Fourth's legacy. He is…

'_He sacrificed his own son.'_

"…Namikaze Naruto."

'_Oh shit!'_


	2. Chapter 2 Tears bathed in moonlight

**A/N: Hi. This is the revised version of the second chapter of the story. Special thanks to Magnoliatree for the job she did as the Beta Reader.**

**Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction, Taco does not own Naruto or any of its character, and neither does Sombrero.**

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**Chapter 2: Tears Bathed in Moonlight**

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Sarutobi Hiruzen - dressed in the usual Hokage robe and hat- stood in front of his window, overlooking the village.

The gentle breeze caressed his aged face and the sound of the music along with the laughter of the children playing below allowed the old Hokage to relax. He had just heard some very disturbing news about the safety of a child he had come to care as a surrogate grandson.

Half an hour ago, Naruto Uzumaki had been checked into Konoha's general hospital barely alive and with several injuries adorning his skinny body, in the arms of an irate Inoichi Yamanaka. Apparently Inoichi had stormed through the hospital's gates and demanded immediate treatment for the blond boy or 'he would turn all the hospital staff stupid.'

The aged Fire Shadow sighed; this wasn't the first time that the boy had been attacked.

The villagers would often chase him around, but the sly kid was able to escape most of the time, and if not, the ANBU would come and rescue the boy.

But on this date the things were always different. The villagers used this day to let loose all of the anger that they had bottled in throughout the year. They would stop at nothing to harm the poor boy and, because of the festival and the masses of people that crowded the streets, the ANBU had a hard time patrolling the village. Once they knew what was going on, it was always too late to do anything to help the young jinchūriki, except by taking him to the hospital.

Once more the Hokage sighed, this time while pinching the bridge of his nose.

He didn't know what to do. He wanted to help the boy, but he couldn't be there for him all of the time. He had tried to explain Naruto's condition to the civilians, but it was a lost cause. They had been already swayed by the words of his charismatic rival- Konoha's war hawk- Danzo Shimura.

"Danzo…" Sarutobi grumbled. Although he knew that all that the Konoha elder did was for the good of the Leaf, he just couldn't accept his methods.

Seven years ago, right after the sealing took place; Danzo approached Sarutobi and tried to convince the reinstated Hokage to let him train the boy. He had said that he could make him a great asset for the village, a tool that would kill and die for the sake of the Great Tree.

Of course, Hiruzen refused. He knew the way Danzo trained his shinobi and he would be damned if he let him put one hand on the blond boy...needless to say, the old war hawk didn't take the rejection well.

The bandaged man was a very influential man and held in high regard by both the Konoha council and the civilians, so it wasn't difficult to convince the already spiteful villagers to continue to harass the young jinchūriki.

Sarutobi knew why, Danzo wanted to make him regret his decision, but he wouldn't budge. If he did, Naruto would become another mindless ROOT soldier.

Averting his eyes from the village the Sandaime focused on the night's full moon and starry sky_. 'I'm sorry, Minato.'_ he thought_. 'I don't think I can protect Naruto from Danzo much longer, if on-'_

_*Thump*_

_*Thump*_

_*Thump*_

The third Fire Shadow was pulled from his thoughts by a loud knocking on his office door.

"Enter." Commanded Hiruzen, not turning around.

The door opened and closed, indicating the entry of another presence.

"Good evening, Hokage-sama" greeted the new addition to the room.

Sarutobi knew the person who greeted him, even before hearing his voice. He had been sure that he would come here, to confront him after the evening's events.

The Hokage turned around to return the greeting. "Good evening, Inoichi. What brings you here this late at night?"

The old man knew that the blonde Jōnin would want to talk, ever since he heard the news about Naruto. So he had stayed in his office, waiting for the Yamanaka to arrive.

"Hokage-sama, can we talk for a bit?"

The Sandaime just nodded and sat on his chair, indicating that Inoichi should do the same.

Inoichi sat down and for a moment they just stared at each other, the large desk being the only thing which separated them in the dark room, illuminated by the moonlight coming from the window.

The Jōnin coughed a couple of times before starting. "As you probably know already, Hokage-sama, earlier I took an injured, no, maimed would better describe it, Naruto to the hospital. I had heard rumors before, but I never thought someone would actually hurt a seven year old boy as much as he was today! How could this happen, Hokage-sama?"

The aged Hokage took out his pipe, put tobacco in it, then lit it and took a puff. Once the smoke that he released vanished from the room, he began to talk.

"Firstly, I want to thank you for helping young Naruto. You will receive a B-rank mission payment for the trouble."

"Sarutobi-sama, with all due respect, if you wish to thank me, then do it by answering my questions rather than with money." The Jōnin replied.

Taking a drag from his pipe, the smoker sighed. "Very well, Inoichi-san. I will allow you to ask me four questions, to which I will reply if I know the answer. Answering your first question, this has actually happened before. Normally, Naruto would be smart enough to not let them catch him, but every year, during the Yondaime's festival, the mobs always manage to find him- and beat him within an inch of his life."

"Why do you allow this to go unpunished, Hokage-sama?" said Inoichi, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up.

"I do _not_ allow this to go unpunished, Inoichi! I make sure they are punished just as the law dictates!" exclaimed the Hokage also standing.

The blonde mind-walker flinched at hearing the God of Shinobi raise his voice, but he refused to back down, not for this.

"That's a lie, and you know it! I work in the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force and I have seen these so called mobsters enter, and leave only ten minutes later, perfectly fine!" countered the blond loudly.

The Hokage stayed quiet, sitting down.

Inoichi was shaken from his frenzy and immediately bowed to his leader.

"Hokage-sama, I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me." apologized the Jōnin.

_'What's wrong with me? Did I really raise my voice against the Professor, the God of Shinobi himself? Ugh, I hope they have comfy beds in jail…'_

Luckily for Inoichi, the Sandaime only laughed. "Don't worry about it, getting so worked up only shows that you really care about what's happening." The professor turned serious. "I will personally investigate this issue, although I think I already know who is responsible for letting the mobsters to go unpunished."

"Who is he, Sandaime-sama?" asked the Yamanaka.

Sarutobi took a long drag from his pipe before exhaling, making little smoke rings in the air. He looked at Inoichi and then sucked on his pipe again. Finally he took it from his lips and opened his mouth to speak…only to put the pipe in again and take another puff.

Inoichi's right eyebrow twitched_. 'Come on, you old smoker monkey. Talk already' _thought the irritated blond Jōnin.

At long last, the Sandaime cleaned the ashes from his pipe and put it in his pocket. "Danzo Shimura." he said bitterly.

Seeing Inoichi's confused face, he decided to elaborate. "For years now, Danzo has been plotting against me, waiting for a chance to usurp the Hokage's title. Seven years ago he saw a chance, in the form of the newborn Naruto Uzumaki. He tried to convince me to give him the baby so he could be trained, _'_a tool that would kill and die for the sake of the great tree_' _were his exact words. What he really wanted was a domesticated jinchūriki at his beck and call, so he could use that power against me. I denied his request and ordered him to disband his ROOT immediately."

The Fire Shadow took a deep breath before continuing. "Danzo, being the stubborn man that he is, didn't heed my warning and still has his ROOT working. Lamentably, they don't leave any trace or clue so we have no proof of its existence, but, we are getting sidetracked. That fool of a man wants me to regret my decision, that's why I suspect he has been helping Naruto's attackers- in order to gain their respect and also so they can resume their assaults on the boy."

"I see… if Danzo's Root is still running amok, it would be very probable that he slipped some of his agents into the T & I force." the Jōnin said grimly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Indeed. Now, ask your fourth question, it has been a long day and I need my rest."

The mind-walker nodded, he didn't need to think twice about what his last query would be.

"Is Naruto the son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze?"

Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock and his mouth almost touched the desk. Of all the questions he could be asked, that was the only one that he didn't want to answer. Hiruzen didn't want to lie to his shinobi so he just lowered his head and stayed quiet.

Inoichi studied the Hokage's expression finding his answer in the silence that the Sandaime gave him.

"So it _is_ true. But… why does Naruto not know about this?"

"Inoichi, I am afraid you have already asked your four questions" replied the Hokage with his head still lowered, his hat hiding his face.

The Jōnin was about to argue, but then saw something he thought he would never see…

Sarutobi's shoulders were trembling slightly and although his hat hided most of his face, the moonlight revealed the shining tears going down his wrinkled cheeks and drenching his goatee.

"I'm an old man, Inoichi. I've lived through two of the three great ninja wars; I've seen friends and enemies alike die in the battlefield; I've killed so many people that I'm sure I already have a place reserved for me in hell. But for a reason it pains me to see that bright smile that boy always has on his face. I admire that kid; I want to be like him. He never gives up, he is alone in the world but he doesn't stop smiling no matter what, but I know that it won't last forever."

Hiruzen put a hand over his eyes, and resumed talking in a cracking voice." I-I'm afraid. I don't want to see that smile of his break, eve-ryday that passes it looks li-like he has to force himself mo-more to try and look happy, it hurts me to see him forcing himself and i-it ki-kills me to know that I can't do shit to help him!"

The God of Shinobi finally lost a war, years of pent up emotions came over him and he couldn't stop the flow of tears. "What's the point of being called powerful, if I can't protect a single child!" whispered the old Hokage, sobbing uncontrollably.

Inoichi understood what the Kage meant_. 'When I was in the alley and mistook Naruto's body for Ino's, I felt useless, powerless. This only proves that even the strongest people have their moments of weakness…'_

Sarutobi recomposed himself and said, "I want to protect Naruto, that's exactly why I don't tell him about his heritage. If Iwagakure knows that the man that they curse everyday had a son, they wouldn't hesitate to send assassins to kill the boy as some kind of payback."

"Be that as it may, you should still tell Naruto about his parents."

"When the time comes I will, but for the meantime he has suffered enough."

"Yes, he has suffered enough! That is why he deserves to know! If the people know that he is the son of the Yondaime then he would be treated with more respect!"

"Why can't you understand that I don't want to endanger the boy? He is not ready- if he is attacked by a shinobi then he would surely die!"

"He is already being attacked by shinobi in here, in his own village."

"Wh-what? Is that true?"

Inoichi nodded. "When I found him, he had his legs burnt; I think it was because of a fire jutsu Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime gripped his hands in rage and said through clenched teeth. "How can a ninja fall so low?"

"I asked myself the same question, sir, but never mind that. I won't insist anymore on telling the boy about his heritage. I understand that you wish to protect the boy, but also the village."

Hiruzen nodded sadly, Inoichi was right on the spot, yes he wanted to protect the child, but he was the Hokage and he couldn't neglect his people.

"Let me train Naruto, Lord Hokage." This was the second time that someone had requested that. Seven years ago he denied this request to Danzo, but this time it was different. Inoichi didn't want to make Naruto into a tool. He wanted to help him, just like himself.

The Hokage stayed quiet, still thinking about what he should do.

"I promise you that if he becomes my disciple, he will have food to eat and a house to call home, I want to train him so one day you can tell him about his parents without fearing for his life, but don't worry I will also teach him about everything he needs know, I want to grow him into a great man, just like his father was."

"So this is what all is about" Said the fire shadow while narrowing his eyes. "You only want to help him because of his father."

"I assisted him before even knowing about his parentage, Hokage-sama!" The blond man exclaimed, feeling insulted by what the Hokage insinuated. "I don't want to see what happened today repeat itself. That's why if you really care about the boy you will let me teach him…"

The gray haired man stared at Inoichi trying to find out if he was lying, but couldn't find deception in the man. He came to a decision, maybe he couldn't protect the boy any longer, but someone else could.

"Alright Inoichi, I will allow you to make him your pupil, but only if he wants to. Tomorrow we will go to the hospital and ask him, is that alright with you?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama" replied the Jōnin.

"Then you're dismissed"

Inoichi Yamanka stood up from his chair and bowed to the Sandaime, before turning around and walking towards the door.

Just when the blond man was about to turn the knob, he heard his leader's voice again.

"Inoichi, I am sure Naruto will accept your proposal. That's why I ask you, not as a Hokage, but as a grandfather, that you take good care of him." Sarutobi, once again looking at the moon, said.

The Yamanaka smiled and replied. "I promise that I will take good care of him, Sarutobi-sama." And with that the door closed, leaving the aged Kage alone with his thoughts.

* * *

The night was at its peak, the festival had for the most part already died and the once crowded streets were now totally empty with the exception of one soul.

Inoichi Yamanaka was finally ready to go home to his beloved wife and daughter. Today had been a hectic day for him, but in the end everything worked up just fine.

'_Tomorrow when I go see Naruto maybe I will take Ino with me, god knows that that boy could use a friend.'_

The blond Jōnin now could see his flower shop, but suddenly he had the urgent need to grab his balls._'Mmm, my ninja senses are telling me something very bad is going to happen. '_Inoichi shrugged and kept on walking until he reached his home.

"Honey, I'm home." He called out, hoping to see his beautiful wife come and greet him.

He got what he wanted, from one of the many doors of the hallway came out his wife wearing a simple white robe over her purple satin nightgown. Her long platinum blond hair was tied up in tight bun on top of her head with only one thin bang framing her delicate smiling face.

Mayu Yamanaka marched towards her beloved husband, and when she got close enough started talking. "Hello dear, where were you?"

"Oh my dear Mayu, it is so good to be back home, you won't imagine how crazy my day was." Inoichi pulled her wife into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"Poor husband, you must have it pretty rough. Say, you wouldn't know where Ino is, do you?"

Realization hit Inoichi hard and slowly he withdrew himself from the hug he was sharing with his wife.

"Of course you wouldn't know. Imagine my surprise when our seven year old daughter walked into the house alone and crying after walking through a sea of people, at night."

Mayu started closing to her backing husband, still sporting that devilish smile on her face.

"W-wait, Mayu, I can explain!" The retreating Inoichi said, until he cornered himself.

"There's nothing to explain, you were probably drinking again in some bar with Shikaku or Chōza, weren't you?"

Trying to save his skin the Jōnin replied. "N-no I wasn't. I saved a life, I'm a hero!"

Mayu only laughed. "Silly husband, you and your beer induced fantasies." Then the platinum blond revealed her weapon, the legendary husband beater… the frying pan.

Inoichi paled at seeing his bane, and tried to make a run to the front door, but it was already too late for the Jōnin.

Through the night the sound of metal hitting flesh resounded, and anyone that heard it knew what it meant, a husband was being punished for his stupidity.

In a big Stone hall, a bandaged old man was currently seated behind a desk reading some documents; he had shaggy black hair and a cross shaped scar was visible on his face.

"Talk." The bandaged man said, to apparently no one, but then a masked man garbed in black appeared kneeled in front of the sitting oldster.

"Danzo-sama, I have some information you should be aware of. It seems that someone has showed interest in training Naruto Uzumaki."

Danzo frowned but gestured the man to continue with his hand. "That man is the Yamanaka clan head, Inoichi Yamanaka- and it looks like the Hokage has granted him permission to teach the boy. How should we act upon this, sir?"

The black haired man rested both of his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers in front of his face. "We must act immediately. We cannot allow Yamanaka to take the Uzumaki boy from us; he is needed in my plans if I wish to succeed. Tomorrow we will meet with Yamanaka and convince him to withdraw his request to teach the boy by any means necessary. Force included."

And with that said the clock needles reached the number twelve, indicating the end of October the tenth and the start of a day where the destiny of a child was going to be written.

* * *

**E/N: Ok guys thanks for reading and for those who are curious, in the next chapter the action will start and after that there's going to be a Timeskip. After the timeskip the story will FINALLY revolve more around Naruto and Ino, so Ino fans, please bear with me a little longer.**


	3. Chapter 3 What you deserve!

**A/N: Revised version of chapter 3 is up. Special thanks to Magnoliatree, the beta who made this chapter possible.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters; this is a work of fiction, so don't demand me, por favor!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: What You Deserve!**

* * *

'_I hate hospitals' _One Naruto Uzumaki though while staring at the white ceiling of the room.

Moments ago the blond haired boy was sleeping peacefully and had intended to keep doing that- but the sun decided otherwise.

Through the curtains the sunshine greeted the blond by hitting him right on his face, stirring him from his long slumber. Attempting to remain in Morpheus's kingdom as much as possible, the young jinchūriki hid under the sheets of his bed, but his efforts were useless… he had returned to his lonely reality.

Sitting up from his current position, Naruto roamed his eyes over the pure white room until they locked on a vase with a couple of flowers on top the night table. A question raised in his mind. _'Was Jiji here?'_

Naruto sighed and threw the sheets covering him onto the floor, revealing his body covered in injuries, gauzes and a hospital robe.

'_I was too slow, they really did a number on me this time._' thought the blonde while examining his hurt body, running his slender fingers through the bandages until he came in contact with his legs. Then he froze, the memories from yesterday surfacing.

_'I shouldn't have gone to Ichiraku. I knew what day it was yesterday, I should have just stayed in the apartment like jiji said, but the stupid tummy monster wanted to eat.'_

The Uzumaki now had his legs pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them; he could still feel the vicious fire eating away the skin of his legs, he could only watch, any kind of resistance was in vain as the three men kicked, stomped and pummeled him. Panic engulfed him along with the flames, he screamed as loud as he could, hoping someone, god included, to take pity on him, but his pleads of help were drowned by the music and the joyous laughs that came from the festival. He screamed until his throat was dry and hoarse, and finally some kind of divine entity heard his miserable pleas and sweet unconsciousness washed over him.

And now he was here, in the Konoha hospital with almost every inch of his body covered in bandages.

Naruto steeled himself and began to remove the gauzes covering his legs, he remembered seeing them turn charcoal black while wishing for them to become ashes so the pain would stop. So now because of the morbid curiosity a boy as tormented as Naruto could have, he chose to see what was left of his lower extremities.

To the boy's surprise and relief his legs were mostly healed by now- he was a fast healer. That was something he was proud of, because no matter how ugly his wounds were they usually healed in a matter of a few hours. Normally any person that came to a hospital because of an injury would attribute their healing to a treatment or doctor, but the blond boy knew otherwise, every time he ended up here the staff were hesitant to help him, and gave him only enough attention to keep him alive. After he regained some of his health back he would be immediately thrown out.

Not that he cared, after all Naruto always wanted to stay as little as possible confined in a clinic or a hospital…Those places just straight-out depressed him.

'_If an already depressed person enters a depressing hospital full of depressed people then he or she would just fell more depressed…right?' _thought Naruto.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Naruto perked up.

"Hey jiji, did you came to see me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed. "Yes, Naruto-kun, I did _come _to see you." said the Hokage, emphasizing the word to correct the seven year old kid. "So, how are you feeling today, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm feeling great jiji! Can't wait to get out of here and go to Ichiraku!"

"That's good to know, my boy, but I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for a while until we are sure you are completely healed."

"What! No way, I'm already completely healed!" Right after saying that, he pushed both of his arms into the air, and as a result of his imprudent actions he cringed from the pain he felt.

The Hokage rushed to his side to see if he was okay, but the blond only shrugged it off and smiled. "I'm fine gramps, this is nothing!" exclaimed the young boy.

The old Kage sighted, he knew Naruto was acting tough because he didn't want to worry him. "Just be more careful Naruto, after all you are still healing."

"Okay old man."

Hiruzen only laughed and ruffled the boy's blond hair.

"Hey, stop doing that already!"

"You can order me around as much as you want when you become Hokage, Naruto-kun."

"Fine, just you wait jiji. Someday I will become Hokage and make you stop ruffling my hair. Believe it!" Naruto said with his usual enthusiasm.

'_Even if someday you really become Hokage, I don't think I will stop it, my boy.' _Then the Hokage's face turned from a playful one to a serious one. It was time to deal with the matter at hand. "Naruto, I would like you to meet the person that helped you yesterday."

Naruto's face took a look of puzzlement. "I thought it was you who bring me here."

"It is _brought_, Naruto-kun, and no, I wasn't the one who brought you here yesterday, the man who helped you is outside waiting for a chance to talk with you. Would you like to see him?"

Naruto nodded absent minded still thinking about who might have saved him from the bad guys. _'Was it the old man from the ramen stand? Maybe it was Ayame-chan, no; jiji said it was a he, so he must be a boy.'_

The young blond was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that someone had already entered the room and was standing next to his bed.

"Naruto-kun."

The Hokage's voice brought him back to attention and saw a man standing next to him. The man had blonde hair a different shade than his own which was tied in a long ponytail that reached to his upper back. He was wearing blue trousers with tape wrapped at the bottoms. His upper body consisted of a long sleeved blue shirt below a Konoha Jōnin vest, on top of the vest there was a sleeveless red coat. Completing the outfit he wore hand guards on both arms, and the konoha hitai-ate on his forehead.

"Hello Naruto-san, it is good to see that you are doing well. My name is Inoichi Yamanaka and I would like to have a few words with you if you don't mind." The blond man said.

Sarutobi smirked, he was sure Naruto would come out with a funny name to call Inoichi. _'Come on Naruto-kun, do your worst.'_

"It is nice to meet you. Also thanks for saving me, Yamanaka-san." Finished Naruto with a slight bow.

'_So it is Yamanaka-san… wait, what?'_

"Naruto-kun, did you just call him Yamanaka-san?"

"Yes. Why? Did I say it wrong?" Naruto asked, his head cocked to the right in confusion.

"No you didn't, but why do I, the freaking Hokage, get called 'Jiji' while he, a mere Jōnin is called by his name?" Sarutobi pointed at Inoichi, while said man just raised one of his eyebrows.

"Well…You are Jiji after all Jiji" Said Naruto with a foxy smile.

"That doesn't make any sense! Of all of the ways you could have named Inoichi, you call him 'Yamanaka-san'; you could have called him Blondie, Unmanly man, or even sissy guy!" By now Inoichi´s right eyebrow was twitching, a tick mark formed on his forehead and he was glaring heatedly at his leader.

"Don't be silly Jii-ji, why would I call him that?"

Sarutobi slumped and gave up, once the boy decided on something there was no point in trying to change his mind…also, Inoichi's glare was starting to hurt him.

The Jōnin coughed a couple of times to regain his composure and addressed the little boy. "You are very welcome, Naruto-san. Now it is time to get serious." Inoichi grabbed a chair and dragged it to the side of the bed, before sitting down so he could look at the boy in the eyes." I have a proposal for you. Naruto Uzumaki, would you like to become my disciple?"

"Disciple?"

"What Inoichi means is that he wants to train you in the shinobi arts, Naruto-kun." The Hokage said cutting into the conversation.

Naruto was truly shocked. "Why would you want to train me? I'm not strong or fast, also most of the people in the village hate me. If the reason is only because you feel bad for me, then I will have to refuse your proposal, Yamanaka-san.

Inoichi thought quickly and replied. "You're wrong. It is true that I felt bad for you when I saw you, but that is not the reason I want to take you as my apprentice. I have seen the way people treat you and I can honestly say I am repulsed by it; no one deserves what you have been through. The people in this village have been a bunch of ignorant fools, me included, and I wish to repair some of the damaged we have done to you. Also I can't just ignore the great latent talent that you possess; believe it or not you are incredibly strong. Being able to survive all that has happened to you is more than proof enough to that. Besides, you remind me of a good friend of mine, Naruto-san."

"Really? who?" asked the curious boy.

The blond man shook his head. "If you become my disciple I will someday tell you about him, he was a great man, I'm sure you would get along with him very well."

Naruto stayed quiet thinking about what he should do. He wanted to be a ninja and the respect that came with the profession and now this man sitting on his left was offering him the chance to train him. He was sure that he would learn a lot by training under the blond Jōnin, and very probably such an opportunity would never present itself again, but doubt still lingered in his mind. After all he just met the guy, there was always the possibility that the blond man was only trying to trick him and then hurt him.

The Hokage was surprised to see the boy acting so hesitantly, he imagined the boy would be happy after hearing that he could actually be trained by a Jōnin.

"Naruto-kun, Inoichi-san is a loyal shinobi of Konoha and one of the best in his job, if he were to train you, then you would surely be closer to your dream of being Hokage, also I assure you that he will take care of you if you decide to accept his help."

The young boy perked up at hearing the Hokage, he expected to learn a lot, but could this man really help him reach his nearly impossible dream?

"Hokage-sama is saying the truth. I want to train you, but also I want to grow you, I will provide you with food and a place to call home, if you need help in anything I will help you and if you are in danger I will protect you, this I promise."

Naruto was speechless, this man not only wanted to help him become stronger, he was also offering him food, a house to live in, and protection. _'Almost like a dad...' _thought the Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki made up his mind; he decided to believe in the man called Inoichi Yamanaka.

The tension was killing the two older men, but they felt relieved when the blond kid turned to them and gave a wide grin.

"When do we start?" said the still grinning Jinchūriki.

Hiruzen laughed and Inoichi sighed in relief.

"We will begin with your training when you are released from the hospital and that should be by tomorrow."

"What! But I'm feeling fine already; I heal really fast, Inoichi-sensei!"

_'Inoichi-sensei… Not bad, I like how it sounds.'_ thought the Jōnin of the leaf.

"Naruto-kun, as your sensei I know what's best for you, so you should believe in me when I say that you should stay here one more night so we can make sure you're completely healed."

The whiskered boy pouted, but nodded. "Fine, I will stay in this boring hospital if you say so, sensei."

The Jōnin grinned at the pouting boy. "Don't worry, later on today, I will bring my wife and my daughter so they can meet you."

The young blond nodded, but still looked depressed.

"I will bring you ramen."

Instantly the boy's depressed mood disappeared and now only happiness could be read in the boy's face.

"Yes! You are the best, sensei!"

Sarutobi couldn't help but smile at how quickly teacher and student were bonding.

"Inoichi-san I think it is time for us to let young Naruto rest."

"Understood, Hokage-sama. Naruto-kun, I will see you later today, okay?"

Inoichi stood up and started walking out of the room, following the Hokage closely.

"All right, see ya later, sensei and Jiji."

As soon as the two men were out of the room, Naruto lay back down into his bed and once more he was looking up at a pure white ceiling. _'Maybe things will really change this time…'_And with that thought in his mind, Naruto closed his eyes to rest until his new sensei came back.

* * *

Ino was bored, no, scratch that, she was _beyond _bored, as soon as her father came home, he insisted in talking to her mother alone about some 'important business', or at least he said it was, and left her in charge of the flower shop by the meantime.

Normally she would be glad to be able to help her mother but today almost no one passed by to buy something, leaving poor Ino with nothing to do except read a magazine.

She was curious about what her parents were talking about. From time to time she could hear her mother screaming at him, something that wasn't really abnormal, but what really threw her off the loop was that her father was yelling back, something very rare in him.

When the yells shaking the house ended, sobs didn't take long to make themselves heard. Now Ino was really worried. _'Did they have a big fight or something?_' Thought Ino while trying to push her ear further into the living room's door so she could hear better.

Although her efforts continued, she was not able to hear any more of their conversation. They were probably whispering, after all, even her parents knew how much of a gossip monger their daughter was! Shrugging, the young Yamanaka returned to her watch point behind the counter of the flower shop.

Soon after, both of her parents entered the flower shop and they immediately spotted their daughter who was watching them with a curious glance.

Mayu, knowing how persistent her daughter could be with anything that was gossip-related just sighted and directed at her.

"Ino-chan, it looks like your father has gotten himself a new apprentice. How about we go meet him?"

Ino blinked a couple of times. "Wow. That was easy."

"We were going to tell you anyway, so it doesn't matter" shrugged Mayu.

"So what do you say Ino-hime, do you want to meet daddy's new disciple?" Ino's father asked her.

Ino thought for a bit before answering. "Sure daddy, I would like to." Replied a smiling Ino, while _'Anything is better than staying here, I guess.' _was left unspoken.

Hearing his daughter's answer Inoichi began to close the flower shop with the help of his wife while Ino went to her room to change.

As Ino was walking up the stairs, she couldn't help but wonder who had caught her father's eye. She knew exactly who her father was, he was one of the most respected and powerful ninja in the village and a member of the renowned Ino-Shika-Chō trio, one of the best teams in all the elemental nations. _'I'm sure daddy's apprentice is strong, smart and hopefully cute.'_

And with that in her mind, Ino began the important task of finding something to wear, after all, she always dressed to impress.

* * *

For Sarutobi Hiruzen today had been one of the best days he ever had since the Kyūbi attacked. Finally the boy he had come to care for had someone that would take care of him and train him. The old Hokage was sure that in a few years the boy would show the world how strong a shinobi he really could be.

When the Fire Shadow returned to his office feeling satisfied with the results at the hospital, he found something that he thought only in dreams could happen… there was no paperwork.

The rest of the afternoon, Sarutobi just stayed in his office, drowning himself in his favorite hobby, the literature. The leaf's Hokage giggled aloud and whipped a trail of blood that was running from his nose, without losing his grip on the orange book that gave him so much entertainment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was an erudite in all kinds of poetry, writing, drawing and of course in literature. Constantly he would visit the ninja academy and feed the students with some of his vast knowledge in poetry, but poetry, writing and drawing be damned, the only art that really mattered to him was the literature, specially his favorite kind of literature…the smut.

For Hiruzen, the smut was the epitome of art; nothing could express the human feelings as well as the smut. The scenes where a man made passionate love to his beloved one always filled the Hokage with a sea of emotions , every point, comma or word was important, in other words that little orange book, wasn't a book, it was a compilation of emotions translated in ink by the author.

That is why the Hokage always used his free time to read smut; it was not because of the sex. It was because of the deeper meaning of beauty that the book represented.

"Hehehe, so that's how you like it, huh?" once more the Hokage cleaned a trail of blood that came from his nose.

Well, maybe it really was because of the sex…

Suddenly Sarutobi's relaxed afternoon stopped, his ears caught the sound of someone knocking on his door. Sighing he hid his book below the desk and spoke to whoever it was.

"Enter."

Soon after he said that, he instantly regretted it, the person that entered the room was none other than Danzo in all of his bandaged glory.

Sarutobi wasn't happy to see his long time former friend, but didn't show it. "What do you need, Danzo?"

"I have just heard some very interesting news, Sarutobi. Is it true that Inoichi Yamanaka is going to train the Kyubi jinchūriki as his new disciple?"

The aged Hokage frowned. "Care to tell me how you came into this piece of information?"

The bandaged man could clearly see the suspicion in the Hokage's eyes, he was waiting for him to slip and reveal the existence of his ROOT, but one didn't stay alive in the ninja profession without brains.

"News as big as this does not take long to spread around, Sarutobi. It isn't everyday a clan head takes someone as a disciple after all."

'_Damn it, did Inoichi's daughter find out already? No, even if she knows it is still too early for the rumor to be spread as Danzo claims to.'_

"One of your ROOT ANBU was listening to my conversation with Inoichi yesterday, wasn't it?"

"I do not know what you are talking about, ROOT is already disbanded, Sarutobi."

'_He is as sharp as ever, but he doesn´t have any proof- so he can't do anything against me.' _The war hawk thought.

The two elderly men glared at each other for a while, neither one wanted to submit to the other.

Then the Hokage let out a sigh "Why do you always try to make my job harder, Danzo?"

"It is not my fault if you cannot deal with being Hokage."

"That is bullshit Danzo! You're just still angered that Tobirama-sensei chose me as the third Hokage instead of you!"

"The past is in the past, I no longer care about what occurred during the First Shinobi World War."

"So you say, but I'm sure that you still curse your own weakness."

Danzo flinched after hearing Hiruzen speak those words, he felt insulted but couldn't deny the true in those words…

The first Great Shinobi War, the war that transformed the Shinobi world in what it is today. The war started soon after the 'one ninja village per country' system was established. This system allowed better organization among the villages and consequently they grew prosperous. At that time the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama divided the bijū with the other villages, hoping to start a new era of peace, but that only fueled the greediness of the villages.

The war taught the great ninja villages new tactics that are still used nowadays, but it also showed them how horrible a war against each other could be.

During the conflict both Senju Hashirama and Tobirama died, but the latter one made sure to appoint his successor as the leader of the leaf.

It happened on a mission during the war. Team Tobirama alongside Kagami Uchiha, Torifu Akimichi and Danzo Himura were in a pinch. During the mission something went wrong and they found themselves being tracked by a special team made up of twenty elite cloud ninja called the Kinkaku Force.

It was just a matter of time for the Leaf shinobi to be surrounded by their enemies, they knew the only way for them to be able to escape was that someone acted like a decoy; of course everyone knew that whoever chose to be the decoy wouldn't be returning home.

Danzo tried to volunteer, after all both his parent and grandparent had sacrificed themselves for their allies and that was a trait that Danzo respected in both of them. He wanted to die a honorable death like they did, but he just couldn't, knowing that he would not be returning to his village filled the young man with fear, he wanted to be like his ancestors, but the prospect of him dyeing scared him.

The ever brave Sarutobi Hiruzen used the hesitation in Danzo and offered himself as the decoy. Unknown to them that was only a test to see who would be more fit to be Hokage. In the end Tobirama was the decoy and ultimately sacrificed himself but before that he appointed the Sarutobi as his successor because of his bravery.

"I regret nothing Sarutobi, at that time I wasn't ready to be Hokage." said Danzo with a calm expression on his face, his tone unreadable to the old Kage.

"Are you trying to say that you are ready now?"

"I have been ready to lead the leaf for years now, I respect you Hiruzen, but you are no longer the same man that pulled the village through three Great Shinobi Wars."

"How dare you! I may be old, but I am still strong enough to protect my village!" The insulted Sandaime replied. Truth be told that was a sore subject for the aged Sarutobi, several times now he has doubted his power, often asking himself if he could still protect the village should the need arise.

"I do not doubt your strength, Sarutobi, everyone knows that even if you are no longer in your prime you could still fight any shinobi that dares to oppose you. What I doubt is your judgment in some of the decisions you make."

"I won't lie, Danzo, I have made several mistakes, but allowing Inoichi train the boy instead of you it is one the best decisions I have ever made. I know about your training methods and I won´t let you transform Naruto into a mindless drone!"

"A tamed beast is the best kind of beast." Said Danzo solemnly, but on the inside he was starting to lose his patience just as the Hokage was.

"He is a little boy, not a beast!" screamed the Hokage.

"He is a Jinchūriki!" the bandaged man yelled back. "If we were able to suppress its feelings then we would not need to worry about the Kyubi being released, also with such a powerful weapon we would ensure the village's safety!"

"How can you even think about sacrificing a child's life, Danzo?" Sarutobi's voice was getting louder by the second, but it also carried disappointment directed at his old friend.

"Open your eyes, Sarutobi! In wars it doesn't matter if you are an adult or a kid, the only thing that matters is if you are able to wield a kunai to take someone's life, we have seen that many times before. In wars there are only tools and the people who use them, shinobi are those tools and they live to spill the blood of their enemies. What does the life of a tool matters if it means protecting your home?"

"I understand what you are saying, but you won't change my mind. Trust me Danzo, this is for the best."

The old war hawk sighed. _'There is no way to convince this stubborn old monkey.'_

The resigned Danzo turned around and headed to the door, but before he grabbed the door knob he spoke again.

"You have grown soft Hiruzen, you and I are both living proof of how precious someone's sacrifice can really be, after all Tobirama-sama died for us so we could make the leaf into what it is today, One person's sacrifice saved hundreds of lives, remember that." with that said the war hawk opened the door and proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Danzo, my old friend, heed my warning, don't do anything stupid and just believe in me this time" The Hokage said sincerely.

Said man smirked "Later… old friend." And with those words spoken, Danzo left room, knowing what he must do; tonight he had a date with destiny.

* * *

"You are that boy from yesterday!" An enraged blonde girl yelled as she pointed at a small boy that was resting on a bed.

The hospital room filled with blondes got quiet after hearing the outburst of the small girl.

Her parents were confused by her attitude, but before one of them could speak up, the girl beat them to it.

"I won't accept a jerk like you be trained by my daddy!" Ino Yamanaka said and afterward ran off from the room, but was followed closely by her mother who had a worried look on her face.

"Ino-chan, wait up."

After the blonde woman left the room hopping to catch her daughter, only two blond men remained, one with a look of shock on his face and the younger one just remained silent and with his head bowed.

"You two knew each other Naruto?"

Naruto nodded still with his head lowered. He didn't want to see the face of the man who had offered him to teach him just some hours ago, he knew what was going to happen now; the blond man would scream at him and hate him just like everyone else.

"Naruto-kun, look at me." Inoichi Yamanaka told the blond boy, but said boy just remained in the same position as if he was petrified.

"Naruto, as your sensei I, command you to look at me!" The Uzumaki was surprised that the man still called himself as his sensei; slowly he raised his head and focused on the blonde Jōnin on his side.

The Jōnin gave a smile to the boy once he was looking at him in the eyes. "Naruto, listen well, you must always keep your head held high and speak with others looking at them in the eyes. You are the same as anyone else so you don't need to feel inferior to the others. All I want to ask you is what happened between you and my daughter for her to be so mad."

The jinchūriki moved by his sensei's words gave the man a little smile and proceeded to tell him about what had happened the day before…

-**Flashback-**

Uzumaki Naruto was currently stuffing his face with his favorite food in his favorite place. Normally he wouldn't dare to go out during the festival, but he miscalculated the amount of food he had in his apartment.

He tried to withstand the hunger that assaulted him; however he couldn't resist the temptation of going to Ichiraku and ordering a big, hot and delicious bowl of ramen. For once he wanted to enjoy his birthday.

The Ichiraku ramen bar was Naruto's favorite place in the whole village, the owner Teuchi and his daughter Ayame had always been kind to him and often gave him free servings. The stand was small and only had a few stools to sit on beside the counter but, never mind the size, Ichiraku was the best place to eat ramen, well, at least Naruto thought so.

The blond boy was already eating his third bowl when he heard someone speak behind him.

"Umm, hello?"

Naruto ignored the voice and continued slurping his noodles.

"Hey kid, I'm talking to you."

The same energetic voice made itself heard again, this time Naruto turned around to look at the person who was talking. To his surprise the one speaking was a little girl who looked about the same age as him.

While Naruto was observing her he couldn't deny how cute she was. Her platinum blonde hair reached down to her shoulders, adorned by a small blue hair-clip, her eyes the color of emeralds shone with an almost divine light, something Naruto was mesmerized by.

The girl's clothes consisted in a long-sleeved light orange shirt, with a black strip that circled the shirt's neck and ran down the sides of the arms circling a sign of the boar just before reaching the end of the sleeves. She wore dark purple pants that ended almost at her ankles; she also used a couple of silver bracelets and a silver necklace in her left arm and neck respectively.

"Are you talking to me?" Naruto said while pointing at himself.

The blond girl stared at him like if he was dumb. " Duh… Of course I'm talking to you; you are the only kid in here."

Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "You are right… so w-what do you need?" The boy tried to sound cool but failed miserably. This was the first time a girl his age ever talked to him and he wanted to give her a good impression, but his nerves were in the way.

Luckily for Naruto it seemed that the girl didn't hear his stuttering or maybe she just didn't care. "I'm looking for my daddy, I think he got lost, have you seen him?"

The blond boy sweat dropped. "You sure it was not you who got lost?"

The green eyed girl took a step back and responded. " I-it doesn´t matter who got lost! Have you seen him or not?"

"How is he like?"

Putting her hand below her chin and closing her eyes, the girl replied. "Well, he is like big and strong and also he has blond hair. Oh! He also is a shinobi and one of the best in his job."

Naruto though for a moment trying to remember if anyone fitting the blonde girl description entered the stand.

"Sorry, no one with yellow hair has come in here."

The girl sighed. "Well, thanks for the he-"A loud growl that could have scared the fiercest of the beasts interrupted the young girl making her embarrassed because the growl was coming from her, more specifically, from her stomach.

The ramen stand got silent after the beast-like growl was heard; neither the boy nor the girl moved feeling like if the time had frozen. Finally the uncomfortable silence was broken by none other than Naruto and his boisterous laughing.

The poor girl's face flushed red in humiliation. "Don't la-laugh at me!"

Meanwhile Naruto was holding his sides still laughing hard. When he finally stopped, the girl was already fuming.

"Are you done?" asked the blond girl while glaring at the boy sitting on the stool.

"Sorry, sorry… are you hungry?"

"Wow, you are a genius!" exclaimed the girl with sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Okay I understand, I'm sorry, it was mean of me to laugh at you. You can have one of my bowls if you want."

"I'm not really a fan of ramen." countered the still mad girl.

"If you say that, then I'm sure you haven't tasted Ichiraku's ramen, this is the food of the gods! And also it looks like you really need it, -ttebayo."

The platinum blond girl reflected on what she should do_. 'I'm really hungry and I don´t have money with me… I'm sure daddy will be fine without me for a while.'_

"Whatever…"

With that said, the girl walked to the stool next to the boy and sat on it.

Naruto immediately passed her one of the bowls that was waiting to be eaten by him. "My name is Naruto by the way!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ino." The girl presented herself before staring at the bowl Naruto passed her which was filled at the brim with warm broth, noodles and other ingredients she couldn't recognize.

Carefully the blond girl poked at the strange mix with her chopstick. Then she gathered all of her courage and tasted the ramen in front of her.

Ino's eyes opened wide in surprise. _'Naruto wasn't exaggerating; this is the best ramen I have ever tasted!'_

The girl closed her eyes to enjoy more the pleasure that the heavenly flavor was giving to her mouth. When she opened her eyes she was face to face with the blond kid.

Ino almost fell from her stool because of the sudden approximation of Naruto. "So, so? Isn't this ramen the best in the whole village?" asked the young jinchūriki with a big grin on his face.

"All right I admit it; this is the best ramen I have ever tasted in my life."

"Well, thank you for the compliment young lady." Both blondes turned to look at the man behind the counter.

"Hey there Oji-san, meet Ino, she is another ramen lover, just like me."

"It is nice to meet you Ino-san, my name is Teuchi, I am the owner of this ramen bar." The dark skinned man told the girl with a smile on his face and a chef cap on his head.

"Nice to meet you too Teuchi-san, excuse me but have you seen my father pass by?"

"Ah! That´s right Oji-san, Ino-chan here is lost!"

"No I'm not; my daddy is the one who is lost!"

"Hmm, I'm sorry Ino-san but I haven't seen Inoichi-san today."

"I see…" The girl looked sad after hearing the ramen chef tell her the bad news. Naruto for some reason didn't want to see the lively Ino act so depressed so he came up with a plan.

"Hey, I got an idea Ino-chan, I'm going to help you find your dad!" proclaimed an excited Naruto to the platinum blonde girl sitting next to him.

"Really? Thank you, Naruto, I appreciate it." Ino said while showing a bright smile to the whiskered boy, who blushed at the sight.

"N-no problem, let's look for him together… after eating, of course."

Two blond kids were exploring every nook and cranny of the village, desperately looking for the father of one of them, it was a wild goose chase, there were just too many people crowding the streets to be able to find someone, but not even the cold night was able to freeze their spirits.

After thirty minutes of extensive searching they returned to the place where they started.

"It is useless Naruto, finding my daddy when there are so much people is impossible." said Ino while leaning against the wall of the building next to Ichiraku.

"Come on Ino-chan, don't give up, we will find him, dattebayo!" Naruto's words reassured Ino and gave her the strength she needed to continue.

The platinum blond smiled at the boy. "You're very kind Naruto, you know that?"

Naruto turned his head so Ino would not see him blush because of her compliment and then spoke to the blond girl. "Anyway, I guess we should stay here and wait if your dad comes by, after all in this street there's few people."

Ino giggled when she saw Naruto attempting to hide his blush. "You are right; here we have good visibility so we would be able to spot him easily."

The two kids stood next to each other in a comfortable silence, the music of the festival reached their ears while they saw people passing by, but no one had the kind of blond hair they were looking for.

Suddenly something caught Naruto's attention; walking down the street he could see three dim figures and they were acting abnormally. The figures were walking unsteadily, almost leaning against each other, Naruto could clearly hear their loud chuckles and slurred words. He grew worried when he saw how they pointed at him and Ino. And finally he heard the words he feared the most. "There is the demon child!" One of them screamed.

The three figures began accelerating their steps while screaming and laughing maniacally. Naruto had to act quickly, he now knew that those men were drunk and would do anything to hurt him, he thought about running away, but then he glanced at Ino and saw her worried face.

"Naruto, what is going on? Why are those men coming at us and what are they saying?"

The jinchūriki panicked. He feared that those men in their drunken stupor would try to hurt Ino. He could not let that happen._'If they see her she will be killed.' _With that in mind Naruto acted.

The Uzumaki turned to Ino and then pushed her as hard as he could into an alley, afterwards he ran as hard as he could towards the drunk men and tackled them to the ground.

"Why you! Damn demon I'm going to kill ya!" One of the three men said before he and the other two men chased the escaping blond into an alley.

Meanwhile Ino was on the floor, after Naruto pushed her she crashed against a garbage can and fell, covering her in trash.

"Ugh" Groaned Ino loudly. "Why did he do that, he told me he would help me find my dad and now he has abandoned me here!" The covered in filth blond stood up shakily and dusted herself off. Ino sniffed and felt tears brimming at her eyes, Naruto had betrayed her and now she was cold, scared and alone.

"Daddy, where are you?"

**-End of Flashback-**

"So that's what happened…" The only Yamanaka in the room was now leaning against the wall next to the kid's bed thinking about what the young boy had told him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about what I did." Naruto told him with a sincere tone of voice.

"Why are you sorry Naruto-kun? If what you told me was the true then I should be thanking you, you did the right choice at pushing Ino so they wouldn't see her, drunk people are the most unpredictable of all."

Naruto was once again relieved that his sensei wasn't mad at him, but he still felt bad for Ino. He wanted to apologize to the blond girl but he doubted she would even want to see him.

Inoichi could clearly see what was bothering Naruto, so he put a hand on the boy's head and spoke to him. "Don't worry Naruto, I will talk to Ino later and tell her the reason why you pushed her, you will see that by tomorrow everything will be just fine."

Naruto smiled to the Jōnin. "Thanks for everything, Inoichi-sensei."

The blond Jōnin smirked. "Just wait until our training starts, and then we will see how thankful you really are."

Naruto paled at seeing his sensei's creepy grin, he could only imagine what kind of devilish training he will have to go through, but he didn't care, he was excited at having the chance to learn from a strong Jōnin.

"Ri-right, I will give it my best!"

"Good, because I won't accept anything else from you. Now I think I should leave, you need to rest and I need to talk to Ino, tomorrow as soon as the hospital's doors open I will come to take you to your new home."

"Will y-you really return tomorrow?" The boy asked unsurely.

"Of course Naruto-kun, it is a promise!"

Naruto showed a big smile to the jounin, a smile full of life, excitement and joy, a perfect example of how a kid's smile should be. Now he understood why the Sandaime wanted to protect his smile, it was impossible not to smile back.

* * *

"You got yourself a disciple, Inoichi?" In a bar three good friends sat next to each other. They had been together in the good and the bad times, in dangerous missions and in wars, but they always worked as a team, or better said as a one.

"I'm surprised Inoichi, being a sensei is really troublesome" Said a man with two scars on the right side of his face as well as a goatee on his chin.

"For you Shikaku, everything is troublesome. Hey waiter, bring me one more round of everything in your menu, will you!" A big man with blue marks on his cheeks, long red hair and a piece of white cloth tied around his forehead spoke up cheerfully.

"Don't tell me what I have to do, Chōza, I got too much on my plate these days." The man in the black and spiky ponytail told the big man before taking another sip of his sake.

"Sure you do, sure you do." The man named Chōza stated disbelievingly before munching away on the food that had just arrived to their table.

Suddenly Shikaku and Chōza heard sobbing coming from the space between them. When they turned their heads they saw a man with sand blond hair resting his head on the table and his left and right hands grabbing a saucer and a bottle of sake respectively.

"…Are you crying Inoichi?" The Jōnin garbed in a mesh shirt, a Jounin vest and a brown dirty-looking coat asked his blond friend.

"It is just th-that, I don´t know how to f-feel" Inoichi spoke while sobbing. "I'm happy that I will be a sensei, but I'm sad because this means I will have less time to spend with you guys."

The man garbed in a samurai-like oufit laughed hard and loud. "You're talking the same way you did the night before your wedding with Mayu!"

Shikaku had a smirk on his face. "Don't forget, Chōza, that he also talked this way the night he found out his wife was pregnant."

"Ohhh, I remember that! He spent all night talking about how happy he was and ended up throwing up on your coat Shikaku!"

"Yeah I remember that. Because of you, Inoichi, Yoshino beat me up…" spoke Shikaku glaring at the man sitting next to him.

"Hey that was your own fault you lazy bastard! You kept wearing that coat without even washing it for two days!" argued the Yamanaka.

The normally smart man was at a loss of word, so he just replied with the most intelligent word he could come up with. "Troublesome…"

The three friends kept talking and joking around some more but their fun was cut short by the flashy appearance of an ANBU in a swirl of leaves.

"Yamanaka-san, Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you, please follow me." The ninja in white mask spoke.

"What you say, what does he want at this hour of the night." The slightly inebriated blond said with the sake slurring his words.

"I'm not allowed to tell you Yamanaka-san… and it is still the evening." replied the mysterious ninja.

"Fine, lead the way Smartass-ANBU-san." and with that the ANBU left the bar with the Jōnin in tow.

"Chōza, what kind of animal represented that ANBU's mask?"

* * *

'_Where is he taking me?' _The blond man thought while jumping across the orange sky, the ANBU had told him they were going to meet with the Hokage, but they were going in the opposite direction of the Hokage tower. When the now sober Inoichi asked the ANBU where they would meet the Hokage, the ANBU just ignored him and kept on jumping.

Now Inoichi was getting suspicious about this ANBU, he had never seen a mask that resembled his and the way he behaved was too emotionless, even for an ANBU. The sand blond's mind came up with the only reasonable solution that could explain the weir behavior of the masked shinobi. _'Is he a member of Danzo's ROOT?'_

The Sandaime had warned Inoichi about Danzo and his plans, but if he wished to be able to teach Naruto then he knew that sooner or later he would have to confront the bandaged man and let him know that Inoichi Yamanaka was not someone to fuck with.

For several more minutes the Yamanaka followed the hooded man. They passed a large clearing with a lake of crystalline water surrounded by trees, in the background the sunset could still be seen peeking through a couple of mountains and in the middle of the clearing there were three big logs. Inoichi identified the place as the third training ground, the same place where Team Hiruzen passed their test and became full-fledged Shinobi.

The two men slowed down and walked a little more until they reached their destination. In front of Inoichi was a man giving him his back, the blond Jounin was unsurprised to see that the figure the remnants of light of the expiring sun revealed was no other than the called war hawk, Danzo Shimura.

"Danzo, what is going on? I was told that the Hokage wanted to see me."

The elderly man seemingly ignored his question and asked one of his own. "Yamanaka-san, do you know the meaning of a sacrifice?"

Inoichi was confused for a moment, but then fixated his eyes in the thing that Danzo was facing and gasped. _'That is the memorial stone… so that is what you mean you sick man.'_

"Cut the puzzling crap Danzo, if you have a problem about Naruto being my apprentice then face me and tell me!"

The old war hawk turned around and faced the blond Jounin. "Very well, Inoichi Yamanaka, I want you to consider once again your decision of teaching the boy Uzumaki."

"There is nothing to consider Danzo, I _will_ teach the boy." Inoichi told the old man in front of him.

'_He seems really decided about teaching the boy… very well; you leave me no other choice Inoichi Yamanaka, I will have to use _it_.'_

"Yamanaka-san, why do you want to teach the boy that has caused so much suffering to our village. During the Kyūbi attack many civilians and shinobi alike perished because of that monster, some of the shinobi that died were part of some clan like the Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Inuzuka, the Aburame, the Akimichi, the Nara, the Senju, the Sarutobi and even the Yamanaka. Why do you want to protect the one responsible for the deaths of so many of your loved ones, Inoichi?"

Inoichi wanted to deny Danzo's words but he couldn't find it in him ._'He is right; Naruto is the one who killed many of my friends and family.'_

"He is a monster; he does not deserve any kind of pity or mercy."

'_A monster does not deserve pity or mercy.' _Slowly the old man's words were ingraining themselves deep inside the Jōnin's mind.

"You are right Danzo, Naruto is a monster, the monster that took the lives of my loved ones."

"Good, Inoichi, you are starting to see the truth, now you won't train him, will you?"

"I wo-" Inoichi started to say, but then…

"_Inoichi-san, I am sure Naruto will accept your proposal, that's why I ask you, not as a Hokage, but as a grandfather, that you take good care of him." Sarutobi, once again looking at the moon, said._

_The Yamanaka smiled and replied. "I promise that I will take good care of him, Sarutobi-san."_

'_I promised to the Hokage that I would protect his smile.'_

"_Will y-you really return tomorrow?" The boy asked unsurely._

"_Of course Naruto-kun, it is a promise!"_

_Naruto showed a big smile to the jounin, a smile full of life, excitement and joy, a perfect example of how a kid´s smile should be. Now he understood why the Sandaime wanted to protect his smile, it was impossible not to smile back._

'_I promised Naruto that I would help him, protect him… to return tomorrow!'_

"I won't believe anymore of the crap you are spewing from your mouth! I said I would teach the boy, and that is final!" answered an angry Yamanaka.

'_As expected of a Yamanaka he has strong mental defenses, but it is still amazing how easily he resisted my mind control technique. '_A frowning Danzo thought, his plan 'A' had failed, but he still had a lot of aces under his sleeve.

"The boy must be trained by me so he can reach his full potential, a perfectly trained and emotionless Jinchūriki would be the perfect weapon, every other nation would think twice before crossing us. What does the life of a child matter when it means protecting a village full of people?"

Inoichi sent a glare to the bandaged man, but said man kept on talking. "As you know this place is called the memorial stone. This is the place where the names of the brave are carved in stone; the roots that support our village are made of the sacrifice of this men and women who died to protect our village, by denying me the boy you are dishonoring the sacrifice of our heroes."

"Continue talking if you wish, but I'm out of here. I won't change my mind no matter what kind of speech you give me." The blond man turned around and got ready to leave, but Danzo wouldn´t have any of that.

"You have a wife and a daughter, don't you?" Asked the serene old man.

Inoichi stopped dead in his tracks and turned to give the old man a glare with all the hate he could muster, now if looks could kill Danzo would be underground by now. "Don't even think about it, Danzo."

The war hawk stood there unfazed by the Jōnin's glare. "It would be a pity if something occurred to them. After all, accidents tend to happen."

"Are you threatening my family you bastard?" asked Inoichi through clenched teeth.

"Now, what could you be talking about? I'm just saying that there could be dangerous people wandering around, watching your house, waiting for a simple order so they can barge in and attack your family."

'_Danzo you dirty, old bag of bones, when this is over I will screw your mind so badly that you will think you are a shit-eating rabbit!'_

"Do you understand now, Yamanaka? That boy is nothing but troubles. Are you willing to risk your family for him?" smirked Danzo while looking at the seething blond man. "Forget about Naruto Uzumaki and live happily with your family."

Inoichi lowered his head, Danzo had him trapped. _'Dammit, this bastard could have assigned some of his ninja to stalk my family. If I go to the Hokage and tell him about the threats then who knows what Danzo would do to Mayu and Ino…'_ Inoichi knew that going to the Hokage would be useless; Danzo had too many followers so it wouldn't be an easy task sentencing him and he would just put his family at risk.

Danzo smirked wider this time at seeing how Inoichi was at loss of words. "Good, Yamanaka-san I think you un-"

*Thump*

A loud crashing sound interrupted the old man, he tried to turn his head so he could see what happened, but strangely, he found his body paralyzed.

"What is the meaning of this?" A confused Danzo asked.

"Threatening a clan head, huh? You really fucked up this time you troublesome man. "Inoichi raised his head after hearing the familiar voice, behind Danzo he located Chōza, using one of his enlarged arms to squash the shinobi with the blank mask whom he had had to follow, and Shikaku standing still with his hands forming the rat seal, he looked to the black haired Jōnin's feet and he found a shadow coming from him and merging with Danzo's shadow.

"Nara, I demand you to release your technique. This is an act of aggression towards one of Konoha's elders and if you don't then you will be gravely punished for your actions." The always centered Danzo said.

"And why should he, you fossil? We heard ya threatening Inoichi's family; we will take your ass to the Hokage so he can put you to rot in a cage!" The large redhead yelled to the immobilized man, his arm was now a normal size and the ROOT shinobi was on the ground, unmoving.

"Wait guys! He has some of his shinobi stalking my family!" screamed a scared Inoichi.

"No he doesn't, he is just bluffing Inoichi." The man in the spiky ponytail replied.

The bandaged man snorted. "How can you be so sure Nara-san?"

Shikaku smirked and explained. "Me and Chōza have been listening to your conversation for a while now, and I know you are bluffing because you said some dangerous men could be watching Inoichi's house, waiting for a simple order so they could barge in and attack his family."

The war hawk looked confused. "Yes, so what, that doesn't prove anything!"

"Well, right now Mayu and Ino aren't in their house, they went out to eat with our families so that proves that your prior statement is wrong, you don't know where they are and neither does your ROOT."

The old man growled under his breath, his façade was destroyed because of a simple error he made.

"Still you don't have any proof that I did threaten Inoichi Yamanka, if you take me to the Hokage then it will be my word against yours." Shimura said attempting to reassure himself that they couldn't touch him.

"And that is exactly like we want it, old fool." The Akimichi spoke. "The Hokage is already suspicious about you, he will surely believe more in the words of three of his most loyal shinobi rather than an old man that is always plotting behind his back!"

"I have the council on my side!" Danzo's voice was getting louder, showing his desperation.

"Oh please, Koharu and Utatane won't save you this time. They have also been getting on the Hokage's nerves lately, but before we go how about we see what are you hiding behind so many bandages?"

Danzo's eye widened, but before he could say something his body began moving on its own, his body turned around just enough for Shikaku and Chōza to be able to see him. Shikaku began grabbing and pulling like if he had something wrapped around his face, making Danzo imitate his movements.

Slowly the wraps fell to the floor, revealing Danzo's naked face to the orange light of the sunset. Both Shikaku and Chōza leaned closer to look better at the wrinkled face of the man. It seemed normal, but then he opened his right eye. When both Jounin saw his eye, they started to feel dizzy_. 'That is the Sharingan!'_The black haired Jounin thought before falling to his knees, losing the control of his technique in the process.

As soon as Danzo was free he jumped back to make space between him and the three Jōnin.

"Shikaku!" Inoichi and Chōza ran to their teammate and helped him up. While they were helping him, Inoichi caught sight of Danzo and his red eye with three black tomoes. "Danzo, why do you have a Sharingan?"

Inoichi's answer was Danzo inhaling deeply and releasing a large sphere of wind towards them. The three men jumped away from each other to evade the attack.

"You have seen too much, the moment you saw my Sharingan was the moment you signed your death warrants." Danzo said and made the sign of the dog with his hands.

"Chōza, Inoichi, formation Ino-Shika-Cho now!" The team regrouped and prepared for the battle.

"**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind release: vacuum sphere)**" Danzo inhaled and exhaled plenty of small spheres of wind that dispersed through the battlefield.

"**Bubun Baika no Jutsu! (Partial Multi-Size Technique!)**" Chōza quickly enlarged his arm and in a great show of strength he hit the ground and a piece of rock larger than the Akimichi himself rose from the ground, before the wind spheres could hit, Inoichi and Shikaku covered themselves behind the big rock and Chōza.

The wind spheres crashed against the wall of rock and a cloud of dust covered the battlefield; before the dust could disappear completely Danzo saw a big human-sized ball rolling towards him. Thinking quickly Danzo jumped and blew air from his mouth to elevate himself, once in the air he began looking for the blond and the black haired men, but he couldn't find them. _'They must have separated themselves when the cloud of dust blocked my vision.'_

Suddenly he heard someone yell. "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire release: Great fireball technique!)**" And a large fireball approached him. In mid-air evading was a difficult task so once more Danzo blew a gust of wind, this time to propel himself back to earth and escape the raging fireball.

The war hawk landed softly, but he immediately regretted his decision, tendrils of shadow came at him with the intention of piercing him. Acting promptly he undid the wrappings on his right arm and did three hand signs in rapid succession, but that didn't stop the black needless from piercing repeatedly his body like it was made of butter.

Shikaku sighed while watching the bleeding man impaled on his technique from his hiding position, their plan had worked perfectly, Chōza had made Danzo jump into the air, where Inoichi was waiting to shoot one of his fire jutsu that everyone knew the old man would evade, but the war hawk did exactly what Shikaku wanted.

'_At least it is over.' _Thought the Nara, but then the body of Danzo just vanished like if it was never there.

"As expected of the Jōnin commander, you tactical skills are top notch." Shikaku spun quickly with a kunai in hand, but he wasn't fast enough and Danzo grabbed his neck before punching him with his now unwrapped right arm. The punch was so strong that Shikaku was sent flying out of his hiding place behind some bushes and almost crashed against Chōza that was in the middle of the clearing.

"Are you alright, Shikaku?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but that bag of bones has a mean right hook." Shikaku said while spitting a glob of blood from his mouth. "Wait, you said a 'right hook'" Asked the big man.

The smart Jounin quickly understood what his friend meant, Danzo's right arm was wrapped just as his right eye and now he had it unwrapped. "Chōza be careful, who knows what kind of creepy thing he did to his right arm."

The two men heard some rustling coming from the bushes and immediately after Danzo walked out. The Jounin observed his arm and indeed it was unwrapped, but then gasped at the heinous thing that Danzo's right arm was. Five Sharingan, five twitching and moving blood red eyes were embedded onto his arm.

"Where did you get those Sharingan, Danzo?"

"From here and there. It's a long story." Danzo said casually.

"Y-you monster!" Chōza exclaimed before activating his jutsu. "**Nikudan Sensha (Human bullet tank)**" Once more Chōza became a human-sized ball and rolled towards Danzo.

"Chōza, wait!" Shikaku's words fell into blind ears as the big ball went in the direction of their enemy. This time however Danzo didn't try to evade it; actually he ran facing the now made ball Jōnin.

Everyone watching expected to see Danzo crushed, but that never happened, the human bullet tank passed right through the elder without hurting him. Confused about what just happened Chōza came to an halt, but that resulted to be a grave error on his part, because as soon as the tank passed through him, Danzo threw a couple of kunai infused with wind chakra with their objective being the large man. In the last moment a couple of kunai sailed through the wind and collided against the kunai launched by the War hawk.

"You okay, Chōza?" Inoichi asked his fellow ninja from on top of a tree.

"Thanks Inoichi, I thought I was a goner!" Chōza said while drying the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.

Inoichi nodded and saw that Danzo had given them some space, the sand blond man focused for a moment and thought.

'_Shikaku, can you hear me?'_

'_Inoichi, what are you doing using your telepathy this way, it will consume plenty of your chakra!'_

'_I know man, but we need to find out what is the secret behind his arm. Do you have any idea?'_

'_Well, I find it strange that just a moment ago he charged head on, but now he backed away, also I think I saw that one of his Sharingan closed.'_

'_You think it had anything to do with the way Chōza's jutsu passed through him without hurting him? Could it have been a Genjutsu?'_

'_It wasn't an illusion Inoichi, you saw how he threw those kunai at Chōza when his jutsu didn't affect him, I'm sure that whatever he did it is related to that arm of his, he must have used the same technique he used to escape my __**Kage Nui no Jutsu (Shadow Sewing Technique)**__'_

'_Then what is the plan?'_

'_This is going to be really troublesome, but we must force him to use that technique until he closes all of his Sharingan, then maybe he will become unable to use it, or capture him when he isn't using it, but before that we must find out how he activates it.'_

'_Alright Shikaku, I will tell Chōza, now let's do this!'_

Inoichi cancelled his telepathy and told Chōza the information they got, before going to aid the shadow user who was busy evading blasts of wind.

'_Damn, this geezer has a good pair of lungs' _Thought Shikaku before being forced to evade another one of Danzo's wind jutsu. In an error of his, he miscalculated the trajectory of the wind sphere and it ended up partially hitting him and throwing him to the floor.

Danzo at seeing his downed opponent withdrew one of his kunai and exhaled wind chakra into it, forming a sharp blade similar to a sword, then ran towards him with the full intent to stab him.

When he got close enough he jumped and prepared to pierce the Jōnin with his wind sword, but to his surprise a large fist crashed against him making him fly back a couple of meters before falling to the ground hard.

"Now, Inoichi!" Exclaimed Chōza.

The Yamanaka jumped from the tree he was in and threw several kunai to Danzo, said man saw them coming at him, the man smirked at how easy they were to evade, but his smirk turned into a frown when he saw that they had something attached to them. _'Explosive tags! '_Danzo quickly performed three hand signs before the fire and smoke engulfed him.

The explosion rocked the woods and some of the trees began to burn, debris and wood splinters rained down the sky and a large cloud of smoke consumed the clearing, inside said cloud, three men stood next to each other in a defensive formation. "Stay alert, this isn't over yet." The tallest one of the group spoke.

"Inoichi, can you sense his chakra?" The man in the black and spiky ponytail asked to the man next to him.

"Yes I can. He isn't very far from here. Expect an attack from the north; after all he can probably see us with his Sharingan." The sand blond man told his teammates. "Everyone to the ground!"

The three Jōnin threw themselves to the ground and immediately after they could hear the distinct sound of shuriken whistling past their heads.

The smoke disappeared and Inoichi saw Danzo charging at them**.**"**Shinranshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Disturbance Technique)"**Inoichi aimed at Danzo but his jutsu didn't affect Danzo. _'Dammit, nothing works against him!' _Thought the frustrated Inoichi.

Danzo was about to stab Inoichi with a kunai held by his left hand but Shikaku managed to use one of his shadows to wrap around the old man's arm and stop his attack.

Chōza used this moment to attack. "**Bubun Baika no Jutsu! (Partial Multi-Size Technique!)**"Chōza expanded the size of both of his arms, jumped, and hit Danzo with a powerful double hammer fist, successfully crushing the man; the only thing left of him was a puddle of blood beneath Chōza's fist.

Chōza smirked believing he had defeated Danzo, but Shikaku thought otherwise. _'Danzo wouldn't be defeated so easily. Something is very wrong here...'_

Shikaku's prediction hit right on the spot, the old figure of Danzo abruptly materialized behind Chōza. The war hawk blew some wind chakra in one kunai he was holding and swung at the unexpected Akimichi. The kunai slashed easily Chōza's skin creating a large gash on his back.

"**Kageyose no Jutsu! (Shadow Endgame Technique!)**" Shikaku's shadow transformed into countless thin tentacles, the shadow tendrils stretched towards Chōza and pulled him away from danger before Danzo could attack him again.

Immediately after Shikaku pulled Chōza away from Danzo, a Kunai with an explosive tag attached to it flew rapidly in the direction of the old man. The explosion caused by the explosive kunai was remarkably smaller than the other ones, but to everyone's surprise when the smoke dispersed they saw a burned Danzo without the upper part of his outfit.

Shikaku's eyes traveled to the burned man's right arm. "Just as I thought, once he performs the sign of the rabbit, the boar and the ram he activates his technique. If that technique is activated then somehow he can't be damaged, but after thirty seconds pass one of his Sharingan closes and he becomes vulnerable again." The Nara explained to his teammates.

Inoichi nodded. "You are right, Shikaku. Also each time one of his eyes close I feel a drastic plummet in his chakra levels."

"I'm amazed you have found out how Izanagi works. Good for you but that won't help you." Spoke the mild-cooked elder.

"Surrender Danzo, by now someone should have heard the sounds of our battle; it won't take long before someone comes to assist us."

"I won't give up, the village needs me. I shall live and make the leaf invincible!"

It was now that Shikaku noticed something on the now completely naked right arm of Danzo. "Why is there a face on your shoulder?"

The old man laughed and looked at his shoulder. "You see, I needed to make some adjustments in my body to be able to maintain so many Sharingan. What you see here is the result of experimenting with the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama, cells."

"You crazy old man, the only thing you wish for is power!" The injured Chōza said and attempted to stand up, but he was in too much pain to do so.

"Rest for a while, Chōza!"

"Don't worry my friend; we will take care of Danzo." Spoke Shikaku to the large man who only nodded.

Danzo didn't waste more time and begun his Jutsu.

Inoichi at seeing the hand signs he made he prepared a jutsu of his Own.

"**Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere)**" Danzo inhaled deeply and then released a large sphere of wind chakra.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**" Inoichi also inhaled but then instead of wind he blew a big orb made of fire through a ring he made with his thumb and his index finger.

The two jutsu clashed and competed in a bout of pure strength, but eventually the fireball won their match and sailed towards the defenseless Danzo.

The elder demonstrated his agility by evading the fireball, but he wasn't expecting to have his body immobilized by Shikaku's shadow.

"It is over Danzo, **Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu! (Shadow Neck Bind Technique!)**" The shadow beneath Danzo extended to his throat in the form of a hand and started to choke him.

For a moment the Jōnin believed they had won, but suddenly Shikaku began to tremble and his body was covered by strange, black marks.

"Wh-what is going on?" Shikaku stuttered out, he couldn't keep his focus and so the jutsu he had Danzo trapped in broke.

The now freed Danzo calmly responded. "That is the seal I normally use in my Shinobi to ensure no one talks about the secrets of ROOT."

Shikaku tried to remember when Danzo could have applied such a seal on him. "You a-applied it t-to me when you gra-grabbed me by the th-throat, didn't you?"

"You are a smart man, Shikaku, too bad that you shall die today." The war hawk faced Inoichi.

"Do you see now the result of your stubbornness, Yamanaka? The three of you are going to die because you were so obsessed in training that little monster."

"Do not call him a monster! He deserves to be seen as a hero, but everyone treats him like a plague!" The sand blond Jounin yelled to the man in front of him.

"Why should he be seen as a hero? Because his father was the Yondaime?"

The trio of Jounin were surprised, two of them because of the revelation that Minato Namikaze was the father of Naruto Uzumaki and the other one because Danzo knew about the boy's linage.

"You had someone spying on the conversation between the Hokage and me, didn't you?" asked the enraged Inoichi.

"That is not important. Tell me Inoichi, do you understand why the fourth sealed the beast inside his own son? I will tell you why, Minato Namikaze was a great Hokage because he understood the real meaning of a sacrifice. He sacrificed his son so the village could make a weapon out of him, he did it for the leaf, in the end he knew that the life of a child is only one life."

Inoichi frowned and gripped his fists so hard that his nails dug into his skin. "Shut up! You don´t know anything about Minato! He sealed the fox in Naruto to protect the village and he wished that everyone saw him as a hero, but thanks to you and your cursed silver tongue almost all of the villagers see him as a monster. I knew Minato personally; he always told me how happy he would be if he became a father and I'm sure if he would have known of how his son would be treated then he would have allowed the Kyūbi to crush this village!"

The normally calm Danzo now was furious. "Enough! I won't allow you to dirty the name of a great Hokage such as Minato Namikaze."

The afternoon breeze blew and carried with itself the leaves that have fallen from the trees that surrounded them. The carefree leaves danced alongside the wind in a slow waltz that seemed to ignore time, but in the ballroom that was the clearing two men prepared for their piece, but this was a mortal dance, in the end only one would live to dance another day.

Once the sound of the rustling trees ended and silence reigned over the battlefield the two warriors charged at each other, hate being the fuel that moved their legs and the desire to kill the other one motivated them to fight.

When the fighters reached the middle of the clearing they clashed into a fierce taijutsu match. Inoichi made the first move by throwing a strong uppercut that was easily parried by the elder, but the old man didn't stop there. He exploited the undefended side of the blond Jōnin and threw a short jab to the ribs. The jab connected, but the jounin was barely hurt. Taking the offensive again Inoichi tried to backfist Danzo, but said man crouched and countered with an uppercut, this time the Jōnin evaded successfully. Inoichi resumed his attack with a low reverse roundhouse kick, Danzo jumped over his kick but he wasn't expecting for Inoichi to use the momentum of his kick to connect a devastating jumping back kick to his chest.

The war hawk staggered back holding his chest; the kick was strong enough to push the air out of his lungs.

Inoichi took this chance and continued his assault on his opponent who could only block at the incessant barrage of punches. At seeing that Inoichi now had the upper hand, Danzo decided that it was time to turn the tables. Enduring the hits of the Jōnin, the war hawk gathered Chakra in his inhuman right arm and smashed it against the Jōnin's face.

The Yamanaka was sent flying from the force the punch had and came to a halt when his back crashed against a tree.

'_Shit, Inoichi is in trouble, but neither I nor Chōza can do anything to help him…'the_ paralyzed Shikaku thought.

'_I need to help him; I'm the most suited for close combat.' _Chōza struggled to stand up, and in the end he did it, but just barely.

"Hey Danzo, it is time for the second round!"

"I made sure to give you a deep cut, with all the blood that you have lost you won't lay a single finger on me." Said Danzo arrogantly.

"We will see about that!" Chōza ran towards Danzo with his arm cocked back and when he got close enough he punched, only to meet Danzo's own punch. The two ninja pushed to see which punch was stronger, but in terms of physical strength they were in a stalemate.

After a while Danzo retreated and used one of his jutsu against Chōza. "**Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**" The Elder release a gust of wind strong enough to blow away the large Akimichi.

Suddenly, Danzo was forced to block a flying kick coming from Inoichi, although he blocked he lost his balance and Inoichi used this time to throw punch after punch. For the most part the black haired elder was able to block or parry the hits, but that didn't mean that he was unscathed, the flurry of punches and kicks were starting to tire him out, so he used the first chance he got to counter attack with his left arm.

The punch struck the blond man's stomach and a cracking sound was heard, Danzo smirked knowing that his punch had broken some of his opponent's ribs, but to his chagrin the blond Jōnin grabbed his arm and didn't let go.

While struggling to free his arm from the blonde's grip, Danzo heard someone approaching him from behind, he turned his face to see who it was. _'Is that Inoichi, no, with my Sharingan I can see it is a shadow clone!'_

Danzo attempted to protect himself against the clone's assault, but it was too late. The clone used the Kunai he had in his hand and stabbed it right into one of the Sharingan embedded in the elder's arm.

"Arg!" Danzo screamed in pain of having a kunai lodged into one of his eyes.

The real Inoichi seeing an opening delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the head of the elder. Danzo hit the ground and when he managed to stand up he found himself once again unable to move.

The sand blond man spun and saw his black haired friend. " Shikaku, you escaped from the seal!"

"Yeah, just as you said, each time one of his Sharingan closes his chakra lowers drastically, once I released a burst of my chakra it was a piece of cake to break his seal." Explained the Nara while maintaining his jutsu.

"No! I won't fail!" Danzo screamed while fighting to break free of Shikaku's jutsu, and to everyone's surprise he was succeeding.

"Shikaku, what is going on?" How can he be moving while being trapped by the**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**?" Asked desperately Inoichi.

"I don't kno-"Abruptly Shikaku noticed the lack of sunlight in the clearing. "Dammit, how could I forget about the time, it is night already?"

No matter how hard Shikaku tried, the lack of light weakened his jutsu and eventually Danzo escaped.

Once free from the shadows, Danzo jumped away from the two Jounin, smeared the blood of his busted lip on his fingers, did five hand seals in rapid succession, smacked his bloody hand into the floor and screamed. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

A giant puff of White smoke appeared in the battlefield, hiding Danzo from view. Once the smoke cleared, the three Jounin were flabbergasted. In front of them a giant creature was staring at them with Danzo in top of its head.

The titanic creature looked like a tapir, but its legs were stripped like the ones of the tigers, it was mostly black but the markings around his eyes were white and so was its trunk. The creature also had bandages wrapped around his head similar to the ones Danzo had and a pair of menacing tusks sprouted from its mouth.

"Rawwwwwwr!" The giant Tapir roar intimidated the jounin.

Inoichi turned to Shikaku. "Hey, what is the plan?" Shikaku looked at Inoichi and then at the giant chimera, then to Inoichi again, and once again to the tapir before he spun and ran like hell.

"Dammit, Shikaku, wait for us. Chōza, let's go!" To his surprise even the injured Chōza was already following the Jounin commander. The Yamanaka sighed and followed his team into the forest.

For a minute or so the Ino-shika-cho trio was able to escape the titanic tapir, but they couldn't hide because they would be easily found by Danzo's Sharingan, so they just kept running from the rushing summon.

"Baku, use your suction!" The war hawk ordered his beast.

Danzo's summon opened his gigantic mouth and began inhaling, the suction it generated was so strong that it ripped the trees from its roots and rocks were pulled out of the ground like if they were feathers.

"Everyone, don't let go!" The redheaded man who was gripping the ground with his enlarged hands yelled to his teammates who were holding on to a tree to avoid being sucked in.

The big man knew that it was only a matter of time for them to be sucked into the tapir's mouth so he decided to take a risk to ensure their safety. "Shikaku, Inoichi, get ready!"

The two Jōnin had a look of confusion on their faces, but it turned to one of panic when they saw that their friend had let go of the ground and was now being suctioned by the summon.

The Akimichi saw how fast he was being sucked in, so he acted quickly. "Here goes nothing! **Chō Baika no Jutsu (Super Multi-Size Technique)**" Chōza's body began to expand while closing on to the Tapir, Danzo foresaw what was going to happen, but could do nothing to stop the imminent collision of the two titans.

The earth shook when the giants crashed into each other and fell to the ground; Danzo was barely able to maintain his position on top of the tapir's head and yelled to his summon. "Stand up Baku, defeat this traitor!"

The tapir obeyed and stood up at the same time as Chōza did. The two titans sized against each other, with Chōza being a little smaller than the chimera. But that didn't stop the giant man of charging his enemy while letting out a war-cry that could be heard even in the tallest of the mountains.

"Shikaku, we got to do something!" The blond told his teammate. "Even if Chōza did eat a couple of chakra pills, he won't last long against that monster and Danzo"

"I know, we will have to keep Danzo busy so he can't attack Chōza with those troublesome wind Jutsu." While they were speaking, they were also jumping from tree to tree as fast as they could, wanting to support their friend as soon as possible.

When they were close enough to the battle, they saw Chōza trying to dominate the tapir with a headlock. "Inoichi this is our chance, let's climb up Chōza's leg." Inoichi nodded and ran alongside Shikaku until they reached the foot of their giant friend, then they focused their chakra in the soles of their feet and ran up their friend's leg.

By the time they have reached the top of the mountain that was their teammate, the tapir had escape from the Akimichi's grip and struck him with his clawed paw.

"Chōza, are you okay?" The black haired man asked to one of the ears of the giant.

"Is that you Shikaku?"

"Yeah, I'm here with Inoichi. Listen we need you to get as close as possible to that beast so the two of us can go for Danzo."

"Okay, but are you going to be alright, he still has two of his Sharingan without counting the one in his eye."

The Nara Jounin laughed. "You are always like that my friend, you are fighting a giant tapir and you worry about your friends rather than for yourself." Shikaku turned serious and showed him a scroll. "In this scroll there are some really strong flares, at my signal I want you to unseal them and hold them over your head."

Chōza understood the plan of his longtime friend; they have done something similar in previous missions.

"Look out, Chōza!" The giant heard the voice of his friend and looked at their enemy to see him and his beast charging at them.

"Hold on to something guys" The large men took a firm stance with his arms stretched in front of him, ready to stop the attacking tapir.

The beast tackled furiously at the giant, they skidded back several meters, crushing everything that was in the way. Finally they stopped and the Jounin used this time to jump on top of the Tapir and sprinted towards the back of the beast where their enemy was.

As soon as they reached each other, the battlers began to exchange blows, the tired Danzo found it difficult to fight two Jōnin-level ninjas at the same time, but he was still able to hold his ground.

It didn't take long for Danzo to be overwhelmed by the combined assault of the Jōnin, so he did four hand signs. 'Rat, snake, horse, dog.' And called his technique. "**Fūton: Shinkūha Wind Release: Vacuum Wave**" The elder took a deep breath and exhaled while spinning; creating a large blade of wind that surrounded his aged body.

Inoichi and Shikaku were able to evade most part of the damage by jumping back, and then Inoichi threw a barrage of shuriken at Danzo who saw them coming and used one of his Jutsu to deflect the attack. "**Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**"

The gust of wind stopped the shuriken, but blocked Danzo's view for a second and that was all that the two Jōnin needed. When Danzo looked at his enemies he only saw Inoichi. _'Where's Nara? Did he fell?'_

The elder´s question was answered when he felt three shuriken piercing his back. Danzo screamed in pain and spun to see Shikaku._'When did he get there?'_

'_Now is my chance' _Inoichi thought at seeing Danzo distracted. ""**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**"

Danzo hearing what the blond Jounin had just said cursed. "Damn it! **Izanagi**!"

The fireball seemed to impact and burn Danzo to ashes, but the two Jōnin wouldn't get tricked by his Jutsu again.

They looked around searching for their enemy and finally they spot him over their heads in midair and doing hand signs. "**Fūton: Shinkū Renpa! (Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!)**" Screamed the elder and sent several wind blades downwards directed at the blond and the black haired males.

The blades crashed down and the Tapir that was engaging Chōza in battle roared in pain, before a hammer fist impacted its head. The angered beast swiped at the giant, but said giant blocked it and then grabbed its trunk and pulled the beast into a headlock.

Meanwhile, Danzo was standing alone on the tapir's back searching for his enemies. Although the Fūton: Shinkū Renpa was one of his strongest Jutsu, it should have at least left traces of their bodies, so he came to the conclusion that those troublesome Jounin were still alive. Danzo blinked twice. "hm, now I understand why Nara uses that phrase." Danzo muttered under his breath and continued searching for the Jōnin, unknown to him that both of them were under him and counting the seconds to attack him.

"How much is left for his technique to go off?" A blond man spoke to his black haired friend.

"15 seconds are left of Izanagi, Chōza should act soon."

The Yamanaka nodded with his ponytail hanging loosely, the two jounin waited some seconds more standing upside down on the underbelly of the tapir, imitating the bats, before they returned to meet Danzo in the back of the beast.

The elder heard someone or something coming at him so he turned around and deflected a kunai aiming to his head. Danzo smirked. _'Those fools came for me, I've some seconds left for Izanagi, I will end this now.' _And with that in his mind he began to prepare one of his jutsu.

"Stop moving you overgrown tapir!" Chōza shouted to the beast that was fighting to break free from his headlock.

In an incredible demonstration of his Herculean strength, Chōza lifted the enormous beast until it was completely over his head, straight like an arrow.

"Let's see if you like this!" With that said Chōza jumped and buried the tapir's head into the ground when he fell in on his butt. The impact caused an earthquake and the mighty beast released a howl of pain before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Inside the cloud of smoke, three figures were plummeting to the ground. Two of them had black hair and the other one had blond hair.

Just when Danzo was about to release his wrath upon the two Jōnin, the ground that was his summon began to shake and rise. Soon they found themselves in a vertical position using chakra to avoid falling, but when the giant slammed the beast in the ground they lost control of their chakra and ended up in a free fall towards the ground.

"Chōza, do it now!" Shikaku screamed while falling, and then both he and Inoichi pulled out their ninja string, tied it around a kunai and threw it to the chest armor of their giant friend to stop their fall, while Danzo used a wind of stream he blew to soften the impact on the ground.

The titanic Akimichi quickly collected some of his chakra into the scroll that was residing on his big palm and the flares were unsealed, then he crushed them with his hand strong enough to just activate them and raised his hand up in the air.

The exhausted Danzo quickly whipped his head up to see how the blinding light emanating from the sitting giant's hand illuminated the dark sky with a red glow.

'_Are they calling for help? Why would they do that, I'm sure someone has already seen or heard the battle between Baku and the Akimichi. '_Though the confounded Danzo.

Shikaku who was now on the ground alongside Inoichi and Chōza put his hands on the rat sign. "**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**"

Danzo scoffed at the sight in front of him. "It is useless Shikaku, there's no li-" The elder stopped at mid word, his eyes widened at seeing how the large shadow that the giant Akimichi produced was already enveloping him.

'_Rabbit, boar, ra-'_he tried to complete the hand signs for Izanagi, but before he could complete it, Shikaku's shadow had already traveled through Chōza's and reached him.

Shikaku raised one hand and grinned when Danzo's body imitated him. "Capture complete, he is all yours, Inoichi."

Inochi smiled and aimed at the captured war hawk. "It is over, Danzo. **Shintenshin no Jutsu! (Mind Body Switch Technique!)**"

The blond man's body slumped forward as conscience left him, for a second the clearing filled with the sounds of war got as silent as a graveyard. That is, until Chōza spoke with his booming voice. "Inoichi, are you there?"

Shikaku and Chōza both breathed a sigh of relief when Danzo replied. "The boar, the deer and the butterfly played Shogi together until they became hungry… Shikaku that is the worst code you have ever come up with".

The redhead laughed as he returned to his normal size, while Shikaku just shrugged and cancelled his Jutsu.

"It isn't that bad; let's go we have a traitor to deliver to the Hokage." Spoke the black haired jounin, both Chōza and Inoichi -in Danzo's body- nodded.

Chōza picked up Inoichi's prone body and was about to leave with his teammates when a voice called out from the darkness. "What is going on here?" The figure appeared in front of the Jōnin, revealing to be an ANBU.

"Ah, ANBU-san, what took you so long?" Chōza asked the ANBU garbed in a black cloak.

Shikaku immediately knew something was amiss, but before he could express his concern he felt something sharp pressing against his throat. "Dammit. Troublesome ROOT."

"Don't move" Ordered a voice behind Shikaku, the man with the spiky ponytail looked around and saw Chōza being immobilized by three ROOT agents, and the exhausted Jōnin had no chance against three ANBU-level ninja so he didn't struggle.

"Inoichi Yamanaka, release Danzo-sama at once or your friends are dead" The shinobi with the kunai at Shikaku's throat said.

Inoichi -in Danzo's body- saw the ROOT shinobi behind Shikaku, three more on top of Chōza and three surrounding him. He sighed, his team was immobilized and tired, even if they were free they wouldn't be able to fight against so many powerful shinobi. He knew that they were dead even if he released Danzo, but he had no choice in the matter.

The Yamanaka broke his technique and his conscience returned to his own body.

"Danzo-sama, are you injured?" One of the masked shinobi ran and helped his master up.

"About time you came here, when we return I will speak with all of you." The war hawk said while standing up.

He then approached the immobilized blond man." I win, Inoichi-san. You will be killed and then you will be framed as traitors, but don't worry, I will take care of the Uzumaki boy and maybe will also train your daughter, she would make a great kunoichi, if she doesn't becomes powerful then at least she would be great for seduction missions."

Inoichi was enraged by the words spoken by Danzo, he struggled as hard as he could against the shinobi that was holding him down, he wished to break free and rip his head off from his wrinkled body, but no matter how hard he struggled, the ROOT on top of him wouldn't budge.

The elder smirked. " ROOT, it is time to go, kill the-"

"Danzo!" The eyes of the war hawk narrowed after hearing a voice he knew very well.

"So the great Hokage-sama decided to come here in person." Danzo turned around and indeed saw the third Hokage, but now he was wearing his combat suit.

His combat uniform consisted in a jumpsuit like the ones the Jōnin used but instead of blue his was black, he also had gray shoulder armor and his forehead protector covered a helmet similar to a samurai kabuto, the straps of his hitai-ate were long and reached all the way down his feet.

"What is the meaning of this? Are members of ROOT attacking my ninja?" The god of shinobi asked furiously.

Danzo thought for a moment what should he do, attempting to talk his way out would be useless, the Hokage had already seen his ROOT and he had his right arm and eye exposed.

While he was pondering about his situation he heard the sound of someone falling to the ground, he turned his head to the right to see that the ninja that was holding Shikaku was lying on the floor, facing upwards with a kunai stuck in his mask. He also noticed that the ones who were holding Chōza down were now fighting against four ANBU.

"ROOT, combat positions!" the war hawk ordered his ninja and they obeyed without protest. Then he escaped while his ROOT engaged the eight ANBU in combat.

"Come back here, Danzo!" Yelled the Sarutobi, but he was stopped before he could follow him by no other than the head of the Nara clan.

Shikaku explained everything he knew about Danzo's Sharingan and especially about Izanagi. "He only has two Sharingan left. That means that he can cast Izanagi for about sixty seconds more."

The Sandaime nodded his head. "All right, thank you for the help. Now look for a place where you and your teammates can rest and let the ANBU deal with this." The Hokage said before jumping in the same direction that Danzo went.

* * *

A panting and worn out Danzo was resting with his back against one of the big logs in the third training ground. The moon shone brightly up in the night sky accompanied by the countless stars incrusted in there. The light coming from the heavenly bodies was reflected in the lake almost as clearly as a mirror.

The war hawk stiffened and recomposed his posture to greet the incoming Hokage. "You sure took your time coming here, didn't you?"

"Why are you doing this Danzo? You are hurting the village that you love so much!"

"Everything I do, I do it for the sake of the leaf. I am the only one who can bring the leaf's full potential. Naruto Uzumaki was a vital point in my plan of becoming Hokage, but now I will take the matter in my own hands."

"Don't be such a fool, you are exhausted and injured, you won't stand a chance against me." The Hokage spoke without any trace of arrogance in his voice.

"It is worth a shot.**Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku! (Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!)**"Danzo inhaled a large amount of air and then expelled it in a large sphere made of wind.

The Sandaime defended against the crushing sphere of wind with a Jutsu of his own. "**Doton: Doryūheki Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)**" Hiruzen spat out mud that instantly rose and hardened, creating a large wall of earth that protected him from the wind jutsu.

Danzo concentrated chakra into his right eye expecting an attack coming from the Sarutobi when he showed himself, but to his surprise he felt the earth below him shaking and a hand emerged from the ground.

"**Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! ****(Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!)**" Danzo barely evaded the hands by jumping back, but then he saw that Hiruzen was running towards him from his left.

Danzo´s Sharingan revealed to him that the Sarutobi coming at him was a shadow clone. He tried to connect it with his right arm; the Hokage's shadow clone evaded the punch skillfully and used a butterfly kick that sent Danzo into the air.

The war hawk landed on the surface of the lake and saw that the original Sarutobi was preparing another of his Jutsu. "**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.)**" The Sandaime fired a single shuriken that soon became a thousand at the tired Danzo.

"**Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**" The wind jutsu reflected the shuriken.

Sarutobi continued his assault. "**Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)**" The Hokage demonstrated why he was called 'the professor' as he masterfully manipulated the flames coming out of his mouth into a dragon.

Danzo saw how the fiery dragon approached him so he had no choice but to activate his forbidden jutsu.

The fire dragon crashed against the surface of the lake making some of the water evaporate by the heat the flames emanated.

When the vapor dispersed Danzo was nowhere to be seen, heeding the warning of Shikaku the aged Hokage knew that this had to be the work of the Jutsu Izanagi, so he concentrated on his senses to locate Danzo.

Sarutobi heard a poof and turned to see that his shadow clone had been destroyed by Danzo stabbing it with one of his wind enhanced kunai.

After dispelling the shadow clone, Danzo rushed to the Hokage. The Sandaime had no problem in parrying or evading the sluggish and weak slashes of the war hawk, he had already lost a lot of blood and used almost all of his chakra; the only thing that kept him on his feet was his pride.

Danzo separated himself from the Hokage and fell to one of his knee and began coughing out blood. "It is over Danzo, thirty seconds have already passed."

"It is not over yet, Sarutobi. I'm still breathing!"

"Just stop it, you can't beat me." The Hokage said just loud enough for him to hear him with his head lowered.

"I'm still alive, that means that I'm still a danger for Konoha, aren't I? Act like a Hokage for once and protect our village!"

The old Hokage raised his head and took out one of his Kunai. "Very well, let´s finish this old friend."

Danzo smiled at hearing that the words spoken by the Hokage were full of conviction and with his remaining strength he charged at Hiruzen, kunai in hand.

The two ancient shinobi stabbed at each other.

Danzo's kunai had already lost the infused wind chakra it had and with only the physical power of an exhausted old man the kunai barely drew out blood. In other hand, the kunai being held by the Hokage plunged deeply into the gut of his opponent.

Danzo coughed out blood once again, he had lost. Since the moment that the Hokage appeared he knew he wouldn't win, but the normally bitter loser didn't feel angry or remorseful.

The moribund elder leaned against the shoulder of his killer and spoke with hoarse voice." Hiruzen, remember the feeling of killing one of your friends, you are the Hokage, you must protect our village against everything that threatens it, after all the friends of the past could be your enemies in the future."

"You are no enemy of mine; you only had a different way of seeing things. You will be remembered as a man that loved the leaf over anything, even if your last actions were wrong you still did what you think would be better for the village."

Danzo laughed against his shoulder. "You are still as soft as ever. My friend remember this, now that I can't be the Hokage you will have keep the job. Don't let anyone step over you, do what you think it's good for the village. I entrust the leaf in your hands, Kami no shinobi." And with that said Danzo closed his eyes, never to be opened again.

* * *

"You look so silly all bandaged up, Inoichi-sensei." A standing blond boy laughed at a bedridden blond next to him.

"How could you get so hurt in a bar fight?" asked Naruto while still laughing, the Hokage at his side also laughed, but he immediately got quiet when Inoichi sent him a murderous glare.

After the fight with Danzo the Hokage returned to the place where his ANBU battled against Danzo's ROOT, to his delight his ninja had just finished of dispatching the enemy. Afterwards the ANBU took Shikaku, Inoichi and Chōza to the hospital.

The history revealed to the public was that Danzo Shimura died in battle against an unknown missing-nin, the Hokage sent his ANBU to investigate if anyone had seen something similar to a giant man fighting against an enlarged tapir. Luckily, no one saw Chōza fighting against Baku, although some people did hear the sounds of battle.

To explain the injuries that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio sustained, he simple said that they got drunk off their asses and involved themselves in a bar brawl. No one really asked any questions because something like that happened before.

Needless to say, the trio wasn't pleased by the excuse that the Hokage came up with, but since his fight with Danzo no one dared to contradict him. It was like if he had an aura of power around him, just like the one he had when the 'God of shinobi' was in his prime.

As soon as Naruto heard that his sensei was in the hospital, he jumped out of his bed and ran through the hallways looking for his room even if he didn't know what number his room was.

Young Naruto didn't find the room, but in the way he bumped with the Hokage, so he tagged along while they searched for his sensei's room. With the help of Sandaime it didn't take long for them to find the room.

When they entered the room, the ever curious Naruto began to ask questions and believed everything that his sensei or the Hokage told him.

During the time the blond boy spent inside the room he became acquaintances with Chōza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara.

The Jōnin seemed to like the blond boy as they answered his questions or talked with him about anything in particular, the lazy Shikaku even played a round of Shogi with him!

Inoichi turned his head to the left to see that his disciple was now listen eagerly to the large man as he shared one of the many adventures that the Ino-Shika-Cho had been in._' It was totally worth it'_

"Daddy!" Inoichi was brought out of his thoughts when someone tackled him into a hug.

The sand blond Jōnin smiled at seeing his daughter. "H-hello, Ino-hime. I missed you too, but would you m-mind letting me go, you a-are hurting my ribs." said the Yamanaka, cringing from the pain caused by his daughter's crushing hug.

Ino backed away while muttering a small "sorry." Suddenly Inoichi felt a pair of lips pecking his own. "Hi husband, how are you feeling?"

While her parents were kissing and cuddling, Ino marched towards the small whiskered boy who was sitting on the Akimichi´s bed.

Naruto gulped at seeing the platinum blond approach him, he expected to for her to still be mad at him, but to his surprise the girl didn't hit or berate him. "Naruto-kun, I'm sorry for the way I treated you yesterday, daddy told me that you only wanted to save me from some bad people and you got hurt because of it." Ino said nervously.

The dumbfounded Naruto just smiled and scratched the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it Ino-chan, it was also my fault, I should have told you or something instead of just pushing you."

"That's all right. Say, do you want go to eat ramen and maybe play later; after all I still have to pay you for the ramen that you treated me."

Naruto gave her one of his famous grins before replying to her offer. "Sure, Ino-chan, let's go!"

"Then what are we waiting for!" exclaimed Ino, and she grabbed Naruto's hand before pulling him out of the room.

"Ino, wait!"

"Don't worry Inoichi-san; I will have one of my most trusted ANBU watch over them." Said the Hokage to calm the preoccupied father down.

Shikaku, who just a minute ago was taking a nap, grinned. "Well Inoichi, it looks that now you have a new disciple and a future son in law." Said the black haired male triggering a boisterous laugh from his red haired teammate.

"Oh my, Ino-chan is already going on her first date, they grow up so quickly." Mayu said with a hand on her cheek.

Inoichi just scoffed. "Please, Naruto and Ino together, that will never happen, right?"

The male Yamanaka took notice that everyone in the room was watching him with a look that said 'are you stupid?' on their faces, even the nurse that had just entered the room.

Inoichi laughed nervously. "Right?"

…No one answered.

* * *

**E/N: Thanks for Reading, now let's get down to business. I know that Danzo has 10 Sharingan on his arm, but I decided to go with 5 because I doubt that he implanted all those eyes on his arm in one go, also remember that he had to augment his strength with the cells of the first Hokage, so all those surgeries and implants should have taken time to be completed. As I said in the previous chapter, in the next chapter there will be a time skip, but I'm not sure if I will make it up until their school days or until they graduate… Meh, I will think about it later, for now I will start to write the next chapter of my other story and then… I guess I will do homework, it has been a while since last time I did some. Hasta luego!**

**Taco & Sombrero**


	4. Chapter 4 Soon To Be Genin

**A/N: Hi to anyone reading this, it has been a while since i last updated, i could say a lot of reasons of why i couldn´t find time to write, but i don´t want to bore you, so i´m only going to say that i was lazy and that vacations got to me. Oh! I also want to thank all the reviewers, reviews show me that people are really reading the story and not just ended up here by accident.**

**Disclaimer: I am a sheep of the system so i have to do this... Naruto and any of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, so if any of you are angered at the lack of creativity of the anime/manga, then blame it on him, not me!**

* * *

**Chapter 4 Soon to be Genin!**

* * *

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

_*beep*_

By ringing loudly an object fulfilled its purpose as its cries stirred the individual hiding underneath purple silk sheets.

Not taking kindly being woken up, a hand shot out of the bedding.

At first the extremity palpated around the small table unable to find the object making all that noise, but finally the hand found it and with a not so gently slam turned the alarm off.

Silence reigned once again in the bedroom now that the evil alarm clock had been defeated, but the damage was done, the young girl under the bedding wouldn´t find sleep anymore.

Getting out of her hideout, Ino Yamanaka sat up and let the soft sheets slid down her body as she stretched her arms over her head, her camisole that matched the color of her sheets raised high enough to reveal the creamy skin of her flat stomach.

It was early. It was still dark outside except for some stray sunrays coming from the horizon that somehow managed to evade all the buildings and made the darkness on the streets recede.

Thoughts of getting back into bed tempted her; let her more lazy-self indulge herself once in a while, after all what possible harm could sleep a couple more hours do?

Sighing Ino knew otherwise. Beauty had a price and she was more than willing to pay for it.

Letting out one last yawn before getting up, Ino went directly to her vanity table. Seeing the lack of sunlight she decided against opening the curtains, instead she opted to press the switch collocated conveniently next to her mirror that would turn-on the lights of her room.

Ino blinked a couple of times to let her eyes grow accustomed to the light; afterwards, she took a moment to look at herself in the mirror, then she took her brush and began the arduous task of combing her hair out of any knot that could have been formed while she was resting.

Once she made sure her hair was smooth and free of knots she began the second phase of her daily ritual. Take a bath.

After gathering enough clothes out of her walk-in closet she made her way towards her bathroom where she promptly took off her camisole, pajama pants and underwear before taking a shower.

Finally after easily thirty minutes, Ino exited the bathroom fully dressed in her usual attire that consisted in a purple sleeveless top with high collar that reached above her bandaged abdomen, a purple skirt cut at the sides that revealed her also bandaged thighs, a pair of white and purple elbow warmers and in her waist, being used as a belt, was her recently earned Hitai-ate.

Now she was almost done, the only thing remaining to do was fixing her hair, so once again Ino sat on the chair of her vanity table and began running her hands and fingers through the still wet blonde locks.

The Yamanaka took a hold on her favorite brush and combed her hair with utmost dedication.

She tried different styles, Pigtails, curls, a long single braid, even buns, but in the end she decided to tie her hair up in the same ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face that she always wore, ever since she let her hair grow pass her shoulders.

Sparing one last approving smile at her reflection she stood up and left her bedroom.

Ino walked down the staircase, guided by the delicious fragrance of freshly-made breakfast she soon entered the kitchen and to her surprise the only person in there besides her was her mother.

"Morning, mom." Said the young Yamanaka.

Mayu Yamanaka stopped cutting vegetables and turned around to greet her daughter. "Good morning Ino-chan, did you sleep well?"

Ino smiled and took her seat at the table "Yes I did mom. Say, where´s Naruto-kun and dad?"

The older woman stirred the boiling contents of some pots at the stove and answered. "Your dad left earlier, he said he was needed at the intelligence division."

Ino nodded knowing perfectly how busy her father could be sometimes.

"And Naru-chan, well, I think the sleepyhead is still snoring in his bed." Mayu said with a giggle.

The Yamanaka heiress stood up abruptly. "What? From all the days he could have overslept it had to be this one!"

"Now, now, calm down Ino-chan." Mayu said soothingly. "Your father probably trained him to exhaustion again."

Ino sighed. "Do you want me to go wake him up?"

"Yes, please do so, or else you both are going to be late."

Doing as her mother told her to, Ino went upstairs and walked pass her bedroom, her parent´s bedroom and reached Naruto's.

Knocking a couple of times on his door, Ino soon came with the conclusion that if he was really sleeping then mere knocking wouldn´t wake him up, so she shrugged and entered his room.

'As messy as ever…' Thought Ino as she walked closer to the bed, evading discarded shirts, pants, scrolls and other things that lay randomly on the floor.

Once she was close enough to the sleeping blond she called out to him. "Up and shine Naruto-kun, it´s morning already!"

Her voice didn´t reach him by the way he kept snoring, his mouth open wide and a little bit of drool escaping his lips.

Seeing as her first plan didn´t work out as planned she was about to resort to more extreme ways, when an idea popped up in her mind.

Reaching to the window next to the blond´s bed, she opened the orange curtains in one swift shift and let the sunlight do the dirty work for her.

Ino thought she won when the sun hit Naruto's face, but to her disappointment the Uzumaki just mumbled something in his sleep and turned to his left to escape the light´s assault.

The Yamanaka felt her patience run thin so she went to the side Naruto was facing, grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him. "Naruto-baka, wake up already! If you don´t we will be late!"

The rough wake-up call seemed to be working when Naruto began to stir, but then suddenly the sleeping blond caught her hands and then pulled her towards him.

Ino yelped loudly when she felt herself lose her balance and then fell on top of her fellow blond.

Time seemed to freeze for the platinum blonde, one moment she was trying to wake the Uzumaki up and now she was on top of him, his arms tightly secured around her slim waist.

Her body tensed and her face flushed beef-red when she felt Naruto's warm breathe tickling her ear while the boy slept unaware of their intimate position.

She tried to get up, but froze when her hands traced the firm chest of the boy beneath her, only now realizing he wasn´t wearing a shirt.

Trying once more to separate herself from the blond boy, Ino found out that his hands wouldn´t budge from their position even when she started to struggle fiercely against his hold.

Her efforts to escape resulted in her being pressed closer to Naruto as he moved one of his hand to her back and pushed her down.

She felt her breasts being pressed against his naked torso, his hands holding her like if she was his lifeline and his essence filling her nostrils; it had a slight tint of sweat in it, probably because of the same action of sleeping, but it still carried the Naruto-ish aroma that made her feel lightheaded.

'_Maybe we can stay like this for some more. We have time and I still feel a little sleepy.'_ Thought Ino as she cuddled her way to rest her forehead on the boy´s shoulder.

Ino´s lips curved into a smile when he felt the heaving of Naruto's chest, his deep breaths were proof of how soundly the boy was sleeping. _'Gosh, daddy must have worked you to the ground again.'_

The position they were in triggered a flow of memories in the girl´s mind…

**-Flashback-**

Three blondes were in an ample training ground surrounded by trees, two of them were next to each other while the last and only female in the group was watched them while sitting comfortably on top of a rock.

"All right Naruto, today´s session is almost over." Said a tall blond to a kid currently doubled in exhaustion, his hands on his knees and taking deep breathes to regain the lost oxygen.

The tall blond was no other that Inoichi Yamanaka, his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face while talking to his disciple. "To finish up, I want you to do pushups nonstop until I return from shopping for tonight's dinner." The sand blond man looked at his sitting daughter. "Ino-chan, could you come here for a moment?"

The girl did as his father told her. She pushed herself off the rock and ran towards her dad, excited to be able to help.

"Ino- chan here will make sure that you do as I commanded you to, and if Ino-chan tells me that you stopped then I´ll make you run twenty laps more around the training ground, understood?"

The eight years old boy gulped but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. Now Ino-hime I will be away for a while so you are in charge meanwhile." With that said Inoichi leaned forward and kissed the top of his daughter´s head and walked away.

Now completely alone the two stared at each other until the girl broke the silence. "What are you waiting for Naruto-kun?"

Feeling slightly intimidated by the smirk on Ino´s face, he got down to the ground and began the pushups.

The Yamanaka observed keenly as the boy did the exercise without many problems and soon grew bored of it.

Naruto was around his thirtieth pushup when he felt some extra weight on his back that almost made his arms falter.

"Ino-chan, what are you doing?" Asked the blond boy as his arms kept trembling under the weight.

Sitting on top of the boy´s back with her legs crossed, she answered. "My clothes will get dirty if I sit on the ground. "

The boy replied struggling a little. "Can´t you find other place to sit that it isn´t on me?"

"Don´t tell me this is too much for you? Daddy would be disappointed to see his disciple struggling to lift little 'ol me…"

Naruto knew that Ino was toying with his pride, but he wouldn´t give her the satisfaction of seeing him defeated, so gathering all the strength he could, he lowered himself until his nose almost touched the ground and then lifted himself back up.

"Fine, sit tight and watch how the future Hokage does things, Dattebayo!"

The Uzumaki continued with the pushups for ten minutes, and the platinum blonde had to say that she was impressed. Not a single time he faltered, his will to succeed gave him strength to do anything he focused his mind into.

'_He never complains, no matter how hard daddy trains him, he never gives up…'_

Ino was brought out of her thoughts when the boy she was thinking about spoke. "Kami, Ino you are heavy."

The girl´s brow twitched. There are things that should never be said to any girl and Ino was about to teach Naruto that.

"Really now?" The Uzumaki never saw the narrowed eyes or the mischievous grin on Ino´s lips.

The Yamanaka waited until Naruto was almost touching the ground again to begin her assault of tickles on the defenseless boy.

"I-Ino, cut it out!" Naruto demanded while trying to contain his laughter, but Ino didn´t stop, in fact she sped up her attack until it became too much for the boy, his arms flaked and the weight drove him to the ground.

The whiskered boy rolled around on the ground laughing uncontrollably while trying to escape from his attacker. Once he managed to regain his breathe, Naruto rolled them around so he could gain the upper hand and retaliated by ticking Ino´s belly.

"Hey, stop it!" Shrieked Ino while fending off the hands tickling her weak points.

"Did you think that only because you are a girl I wouldn´t attack back?"

Ino was laughing so hard she thought she would pee herself, but the young girl acted quickly and countered by rubbing the whisker marks on the boy´s face.

The two kids played around on the ground for a while unaware of the figure watching them from afar, his hands holding a couple of plastic bags.

The man couldn´t help but smile at the way the two kids interacted with each other. Naruto seemed really happy to be able to play with someone after being shunned for so long.

"Okay kids break it off, it´s time to go home!"

The two blonds stopped turning around, but they were still on the ground, Ino on top of Naruto, the two breathing heavily.

"Hey! I said break it off!" Yelled Inoichi to the kids who seemed to be ignoring him.

**-End of Flashback-**

The Yamanaka didn´t know or care how fast or slow the time passed by, for her it only existed the 'now' as she let herself enjoy the embrace she was in just how she did many years ago.

"My, my, Ino-chan you're so bold."

At the sound of a very familiar voice Ino turned her head dangerously fast to see, as she feared, her mother.

"I came upstairs to see what was taking you so long, if I remember correctly I told you to wake him up, not to sleep with him." Mayu said with a dreamy expression as she leaned against the doorframe.

"T-t-t-this isn´t what it looks like!" Ino managed stutter while trying to sit up.

Finally she battled her way out of the embarrassing position, but during her squirms she didn´t notice where she placed her right hand until she felt something hard and rather large under her palm.

Slightly intrigued at what could possibly be what was resting under her hand she unconsciously groped it.

It was until she heard a moan coming from the still sleeping Naruto that she deduced the identity of the object she was touching.

Ino´s face turned redder than the cherry tomatoes she likes so much when she confirmed that indeed, her hand was touching Naruto's groin.

Foreseeing problems, Mayu quickly covered her ears while she walked back to the kitchen. She was halfway down the stairs when she heard the unmistakable voice of her only daughter.

"You pervert, wake up already!"

* * *

"Ino-chan, wait up!" Naruto whined to the girl walking several steps ahead of him.

Said girl ignored his whines and continued her way.

The boy slumped at the cold shoulder he was given by his female friend.

Just like every other day, a pair of blonded could be seen walking down the streets of Konoha. Normally they would be walking side by side, but each time the girl walked ahead of the boy it could only mean one thing… the boy did something stupid to anger the girl.

'_It wasn´t my fault… dattebayo!'_ Thought the boy.

Imagine the surprise he got when he woke up from a very pleasant dream only to get the hell slapped out of him by a very angry blonde, a very angry and beautiful blonde on top of him.

He quickly understood why the girl was so angry about. _'Come on! I couldn´t help it, it was a natural occurrence of my body and i never told her to place her hand on my… ahem, penis'_

The blond boy was wearing a simple purple T-shirt, black cargo shorts that reached until his shins, black shinobi sandals on his feet and a Konoha Hitai-ate on his forehead.

'_But man did her hand felt go-'_ Naruto's thought process was cut when he felt someone pat his back.

Twisting his head slightly to see his assailant, the Uzumaki saw no others that two good friends of him.

" Morning, Naruto." Spoke a 'chubby' boy through a mouth full of chips.

Naruto gave his friend a smile and returned the greeting. "Good morning, Chōji!"

Chōji Akimichi, heir of the Akimichi clan, was a brown haired boy the same age as Naruto. He had whirl marks on his cheeks and his outfit consisted in brown shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved green jacket over a white shirt with the kanji for food on it, ring earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. His forehead protector was also worn on a bandanna around his head cut at the sides in a way that allowed his hair to spike out of it.

"Morning..." Said a black haired boy after taking one unnecessarily long yawn.

"Morning to you too, Shikamaru." Said Naruto

Shikamaru Naru, heir of the Nara clan, was a boy with black hair tied up in a spiky ponytail. Besides a face dull of laziness he also wore a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back with a circle with a line through it, his blue forehead protector worn around his left arm, brown pants, and blue sandals.

"Hey Naruto, what´s up with that woman?" Shikamaru asked while walking next to the blond.

Chōji used the time that took opening another bag of chips to join the conversation. "She seems pretty mad. What did you do this time, Naruto?"

Naruto for his part had his eyebrow twitching. "Why does everyone assumes I did something stupid every time Ino is mad?"

Sighing the young Nara said. "Listen Naruto, believe me when I said that is better for you to just accept that it was your fault and leave it at that."

"How can you said that if you don´t even know the facts?" Asked the Uzumaki.

"Troublesome…Fine, what happened?"

Naruto slowed down and motioned for his two friends to come closer.

Once Chōji and Shikamaru were in a distance where Naruto was sure Ino wouldn´t hear them spoke. "Guys, what happened was that when I woke up…"

The two boys waited patiently for Naruto to continue, but there wasn´t any signal that the blond would resume his explication. Then the blond began to sweat and shiver.

'_It´s impossible, she shouldn´t be able to hear us… Is this the legendary women´s intuition?' _

The male heirs followed Naruto's gaze to find the reason of his weird behavior.

There, in a pair of emeralds were graved promises of pain and eternal suffering as the blond girl glared intensive at his blond counterpart.

Naruto gulped. "Guys, better we leave it like this…"

The two boys nodded in understanding.

* * *

In a classroom flooded with excitement, young Gennin waited expectantly for the announcement that would decide who they will work with for the next years.

Boys and girls alike talked with each other hoping to calm down the nerves that grew stronger with each passing minute.

Some of the fresh shinobi contributed to the ambient by speaking aloud or proclaiming loudly how great as a ninja they would be.

"Yahooooo! Nothing is going to stop us Akamaru!" Howled a boy noisily, causing the small white dog poking his head curiously out of the boy´s grey furred jacket to give a bark in agreement.

"Kiba, do you have to be so loud so early on the morning?" Groaned Shikamaru as he lifted his head out of his folded arms resting on the table.

The noisy boy smirked, showing his large canines, one of the many animalistic traits that denounced him as a member of the Inuzuka clan, as well as being of the most visible ones alongside his slitted pupils and the red markings that resembled fangs marred on his cheeks.

"Come on, don´t be such a spoilsport! Today we will meet our teams, show some excitement you bum!" Said the boy named Kiba to the black haired boy sitting on his left.

The Nara didn´t even respond, instead he just leaned right back into his folded arms and closed his eyes.

Kiba seeing as Shikamaru wasn´t going to talk anymore decided to socialize with the other two boys sitting at the same large desk as him; said boys were Naruto and Chōji.

After talking for a while about noting in particular, Kiba noticed something weird.

"Hey Naruto, how come you're sitting with us instead of with your girlfriend?" Teased the Inuzuka.

"Shut it Kiba, she is not my girlfriend." Growled out the whiskered boy.

The Inuzuka smirked wider this time. "Calm down man, all I'm sayin' is that is nice to see you out of your leash once in a while."

"Oh, now you are talking about leashes dog-boy? How about I get you a flea collar, we wouldn´t want you to stick your fleas to Akamaru now, would we?" Asked Naruto with a smirk of his own.

"Why you!" Kiba was about to leap at Naruto when he heard the guffaws coming from the boy sitting next to the Uzumaki.

Chōji, who had been watching the conversation between the two bickering laughed at their antics, but stopped when he saw them, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry guys, is just that is always the same with you two!" Said the Akimichi while trying to keep in his laugh.

Naruto and Kiba shrugged, both of them now calmer than before. Then kiba sent a not so subtle glance towards the other side of the room to see the Yamanaka heiress's stern expression.

"Anyway, did you do something stupid to make her mad again?" The feral boy asked.

A tick mark formed in Naruto's forehead, but even so remained calm. "Why everyone does assumes that is my fault?"

Now Shikamaru joined the conversation. "It is your fault; you are too dense for your own good…"

Before the sapphire-eyed boy could ask about what he meant, an insanely loud yell was heard that silenced the whole classroom.

"Shut up already!"

When the ringing in his ears disappeared Naruto looked at the front of the classroom to see unsurprisingly, his academy teacher, Iruka Umino.

The teacher, presented in the proper uniform of a Konoha Chunin, spoke when everybody took a seat and remained quiet.

"Good morning everyone. Beginning today all of you are real ninjas, but you are still merely rookie gennin. The hard part has just started."

Suddenly a girl with bright pink hair and a red dress raised her hand. "Excuse me, sensei!"

"Yes, what is it Sakura?" Replied the scared man with a smile.

"Why isn´t Mizuki-sensei here?" The only pink-haired girl in the class asked.

The Chūnin sighed and then spoke with a small frown on his face. "Mizuki was discovered to be a traitor yesterday when he tried to escape the village with the forbidden scroll of seals."

Most of the class let out surprised gasps when they heard the words of their instructor.

Soon enough murmurs were echoing in the classroom, ranging from murmurs of disbelieve to murmurs of anger and betrayal.

"However the details of what happened is confidential, so I won´t be able to answer any questions you may have about what happened."

The low voices continued for a while until they disappeared completely.

Seeing the grim expressions on the faces of his student´s, the Chūnin tried to lighten up the situation. "Relax guys; this is a daily occurrence in the lives of Shinobi, but with the correct training you will all be able to deal with it, I'm sure of it!"

A wave of confidence washed over the young ninjas when they saw the smile on their sensei´s face.

"Now… you will be soon assigned duties by the village. So today we will be creating the three man teams and each team will have a Jōnin sensei. You will follow that sensei´s instruction as you complete the assigned duties."

With that said Iruka pulled out a chart and started to read the members of each team one by one until…

"Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Naruto Uzumaki…"

Sakura slammed her forehead on the desk, the blonde sitting next to her glared at her in a mix of jealousy and anger.

"…And Uchiha Sasuke. Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

As soon as those words left the instructor´s mouth two things happened. First, Sakura´s mood did a complete turnaround as she cheered loudly, and second, Naruto frowned.

Ino watched with pity at the Uzumaki until the girl next to her decided to make herself known. "Take that Ino-pig! Sasuke-kun is as good as mine!"

The Yamanaka looked at her clearly annoyed. "Forehead, How many that do I have to tell you that I don´t like Sasuke!"

Sakura smirked smugly. "Yeah right, then tell me why do you wear the same arm warmers as him?"

"What are you talking about? He was the one who copied me!" Ino nearly screamed.

"Give it up piggy, you won´t be able to fool me!" Stated the convinced Haruno.

Ino rubbed her temple in frustration. _'Why did I sit next to this girl?'_

"Next, team 8… Inuzuka Kiba, Hyūga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Your sensei will be Yūhi Kurenai"

Kiba looked at the shy girl with dark blue hair fidgeting in the corner and then at the quiet boy with brown hair, a high collar light green jacket and sunglasses.

"Team 9 is still on circulation; team 10… Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chōji. Your sense is going to be Sarutobi Asuma."

The three members of the new Ino-Shika-Cho nodded at each other.

"Your new sensei shouldn´t take long to get here, so please wait patiently." Said the teacher to the class.

True to Iruka´s words soon enough the Jōnin began to flock to the room, taking their teams with them when they left.

As the minutes passed by the once congregated classroom began to feel the shortage of people as there were more and more empty seats and the room grew quiet.

"Team 10, with me." A tall bearded man dressed in the standard Konoha Jōnin uniform said as he placed a cigarette on his lips.

Doing as the man instructed, Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji walked down the steps to join the man in the front of the room.

Shikamaru and Chōji followed their sensei out of the room, but Ino lagged behind to send one last worried glance at the boy that sat by himself since his friends left.

Naruto saw the platinum blonde looking at him, so he grinned widely and gave her a thumps up.

The Yamanaka smiled and left the room running to catch up with her team.

Now with team 10 gone, the only people remaining were team 7 and Iruka.

Ten minutes later, Iruka left with the excuse of having to go grade exams.

Left to their own devices, Sakura began pestering Sasuke about going on a date, but after ten minutes of being rejected by the cold boy, she gave up and sat in an empty desk.

Minutes passed and there weren´t signs of their sensei.

Naruto sighed and decided to at least have a decent relationship with his new teammates, so he stood up and went over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, seeing as we are going to be in the same team for the next years, let´s work hard together!" Said Naruto as he stretched his arm to shake hands with the raven haired boy.

The Uchiha for his part didn´t even move from the position he was in, his elbows on the table and behind his interlaced fingers was his face.

The raven haired boy snorted. "Just don´t get in my way."

Naruto retracted his hand. "You are a dickhead, you know that?"

The two boys stared at each other with hate shining off their eyes.

" Naruto-baka, leave Sasuke-kun alone!" Screeched Sakura while storming off to slug the blond in the head, but Naruto saw the punch coming a mile away and easily sidestepped the attack.

Sakura´s body staggered forward when all the strength she infused in her fist missed her target and eventually lost her balance and fell on the floor.

The Uzumaki scoffed. "Sakura, you never learn, do you?" Then he turned to the Uchiha. "And you Sasuke grow up already." Then the blond left his two teammates and sat far away from them.

For the next hour an uncomfortable silence washed over the almost empty room.

While waiting Naruto thought about playing a prank on their sensei for making them wait for so long, but in the end he decided against it. _'It would make Inoichi-sensei look bad…'_

Finally after pushing their patience to the limits, team 7 was rewarded when a mop of spiky silver hair peeked through the doorway.

"Team 7, meet me on the rooftop." And with that, the man left.

* * *

"Ok, let´s start with some introduction." Said a man as he sat leisurely on the roof´s guard rail.

Naruto looked at the man in detail. _'The spiky silver hair, the mask covering his nose and mouth, the forehead protector covering his left eye, the standard Konoha shinobi outfit and a lazy attitude that could rival Shikamaru´s… yep, this man is indeed the copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi.' _

"What do you want to know?" Asked Sakura as she sat next to Sasuke, her legs pulled to her chest.

The tall Jōnin shrugged. "How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies. Stuff like that."

Once more, the only girl in the group queried. "Sensei, could you show us how to do it first?"

"It isn´t that hard, but all right…"

The Jōnin took some seconds to think about what to say. "Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmm… and I have a lot of hobbies…"

Sakura deadpanned. "All we learned was his name…"

The blond smirked. "That´s not true. We also learned that he has a lot of Hobbies!"

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Okay blondie, seeing as you want to talk that much, how about you go next?"

"Sure, I don´t have a problem with it, Hatake-san. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are the Yamanaka clan, the Hokage and my friends. My dislikes are arrogant jerks…" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Traitors and people who try to hurt my precious people. My dream for the future is to become strong enough to be able to protect the people I care about and my hobbies… train and read, I guess."

Kakashi seemed mildly surprised at the blond´s introduction. _'Not bad. Inoichi did a good job raising him…'_

"Next." The Jōnin said.

Sasuke, sitting in the same position he was in before, his face behind his interlaced fingers introduced himself. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike, but I don´t really like anything. And I don´t want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition, the resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."

In the silence that the introduction left, several thoughts wandered in the minds of the remaining members of team 7.

'Cool…' Thought the infatuated Kunoichi.

Different ideas the blond mused in his head. 'He will never change, he is hell bent on taking revenge against the traitor Uchiha… dattebayo.'

'I thought so…' Kakashi mentally confirmed.

"Ok… and lastly, the girl."

The pink haired girl bashfully presented herself. "I'm Haruno Sakura, the think I like is, well, the person I like is…" She glanced at Sasuke and blushed. "Umm, should I say my dream for the future?" Again, she glanced at the Uchiha, blushed, but this time also squealed.

"And your dislikes…?"

This time, the girl answered without hesitation. "Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!"

'_Is this some kind of joke?'_ The masked man thought as he scratched his cheek.

Meanwhile, Naruto turned to the girl. "Watch it, Sakura, I don´t care if you insult me, but I won´t allow you to insult anyone of the Yamanaka clan… especially Ino-chan."

"What did you say, baka?"

Just before Sakura could attack, Kakashi decided to stop the conflict. "Stop it you two. Tomorrow we will start our duties."

The Genin seemed interesting. "What kind of duties, sensei?" The gal inquired.

"First we are going to do something with only the four of us, and that is survival training."

The Haruno seemed confused. "Why is our duty, training? We did enough training at the academy."

The blond boy answered. "It won´t be training, it will be more like a test that anything and only the best are going to be considered as Genin, isn´t that right?"

Kakashi nodded. "You are well informed, in fact, of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as Genin. The rest will go back to the academy. This test has a failure rate of over 66%!"

Naruto closed his eyes, Sakura´s face turned grim and Sasuke sweated. "Tomorrow you will be graded in the training field. Bring your shinobi tools, oh, and skip breakfast… You will throw up."

* * *

"It was delicious like always, Mayu-san!" Naruto said as he dried one glass plate carefully.

The woman besides the boy rinsed another plate before handing it over. "Thank you Naru-chan, but it isn´t necessary for you to help me with the dishes."

Naruto shrugged. "It´s the least I can do, after all you prepared a feast for us tonight… again"

Mayu laughed. "You deserve it. Both you and Ino-chan ended up in the top five of the academy, you were second and Ino was fourth behind the Aburame boy, that is something to be proud of!"

"I guess, but I should have tried harder to beat the Uchiha…" Pouted the Uzumaki.

The platinum blonde flicked some drops of water at the boy. "Naru-chan, sulking isn´t allowed in this house, we are all proud of you!"

The woman dried her hands and then motioned to Naruto to follow her. "Come on; let's see what Ino-chan and my husband are up to."

The blond boy followed Mayu out of the kitchen and into the dining room, where Ino and her dad were sitting at the medium sized mahogany table.

Mayu took her place next to Inoichi and across Ino, while Naruto sat next to the young girl facing his sensei.

"Naruto, Ino has just told me about her team and their sensei… tell me about yours." Inoichi said calmly.

The Uzumaki straightened his posture and spoke. "Hai, sensei. Team 7 is conformed of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and I. The Jōnin assigned to the team is Hatake Kakashi. In our meeting we introduced ourselves and Hatake-san told us about a test we are supposed to undergo before being fully accepted as Genin, the details about the test are in this paper." The Uzumaki pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and passed it to his sensei.

The blond man unfolded the paper and read it. "I see… you are expected at the third training ground by 5:00 A.M. "

Inoichi set the paper on the table. "I´m not going to lie to you, Naruto. I'm not pleased with Kakashi being your team leader."

The Uzumaki cocked his head. "Why is that? I thought he was one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha."

"He is one of the strongest and famous ninja of the leaf, but I don´t think he is capable of teaching properly. Your team is not the first team he has been assigned to, he has tested several teams before and none of them passed his trial." Explained Inoichi.

Ino looked at her mother like asking for confirmation, Mayu nodded to her unspoken question.

"So what?"

The Jōnin raised his eyebrows at Naruto's answer.

"I don´t care if his test is hard! I'm positive that I can pass, after all I was trained by the best sensei in all Konoha!" Naruto said, his words carrying tons of conviction. "…Dattebayo."

Everyone at the table smiled, the bright words of the boy lifted the mood in the room.

"So, Inoichi-sensei, got any advice for tomorrow?"

"I´m afraid I can´t tell you much. Kakashi likes to keep his secrets under wraps, but I can give you a tip, look underneath the underneath."

* * *

The night deepened, the moon and the stars reached their peak. The lights of the homes of Konoha were for the most part turned off as their residents rested and recharged energies for a new day, but for a young blond boy sleep just wouldn´t come to him.

Eventually Naruto grew bored of gazing at his ceiling and got out of his bed.

Silently, Naruto left his bedroom, walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He didn´t bother in turning the lights on, his eyes had long since accustomed to the darkness, besides, the moonlight entering from the window above the sink illuminated well enough.

He opened the fridge and rummaged through its contents until he found what he was looking for.

The sapphire eyed boy opened the plastic lid of the milk carton before guzzling the liquid inside down his throat.

"Use a glass. You´re not the only one in the house that drinks milk, you know." Scolded a voice behind the boy.

Turning around, Naruto asked. "Hey Ino-chan, can´t sleep?"

"Of course I can´t, if I could I wouldn´t be here!" Ino proclaimed as she took a glass out of a wooden cupboard and sat on the kitchen counter. "Pass me the milk." The Yamanaka ordered.

The blond boy approached the sitting girl, leaned against the counter where she was and poured milk on her glass.

Ino murmured a small thanks and took a sip from her glass. Naruto used this time to take a better look at the girl.

She was wearing her purple pajamas with white dots on both the shirt and the pants. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back and some bangs covered the right side of her face. But what really made him blush was that her pajama top had the upper buttons unbuttoned and exposed a moderate amount of skin.

Naruto shook his head out of any dirty thought before focusing his attention back to the Yamanaka.

Ino lowered her glass and licked any remains of milk on her lips. "Are you nervous for tomorrow´s test?" She asked.

The Uzumaki passed a hand through his hair. "Maybe a little, but I'm also excited!"

"Excited?" Ino looked at Naruto in confusion.

"Yeah… after we pass this last obstacle we will be finally full-fledged Genin, what can be more exciting than that!" Remarked the boy with a big grin.

The platinum blonde leaned back a little while her legs swung playfully from left to right, her toes occasionally brushed against the soft fabric of Naruto's pants. "You sound awfully confident in that, what if we don´t pass?"

"We will pass. We have worked very hard for this and nothing´s going to stop us from becoming ninjas." He said.

For a moment the pair of blondes ceased talking and just enjoyed the song of the crickets and each other company.

"I´m sorry about today… I don´t know what came over me to ignore you the way I did." The girl apologized.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don´t sweat it, maybe it was my fault for oversleeping."

"You´re right, it was your fault after all." Naruto sweat dropped at Ino´s words, but the girl only giggled. "…But I forgive you this time. Just make sure it doesn´t happen again, okay mister?" Said Ino while poking Naruto's chest.

"Hai hai. I got it, hime-sama." Naruto said mockingly.

The platinum blond pushed herself off the counter. "Good boy. Now servant, walk me to my room."

Naruto chuckled. "Anything for you, Ino-hime." Ino blushed, but it went unnoticed in the dark.

With that said Naruto led the blonde girl out of the kitchen and guided her to her bedroom, where he left her to go to his own room, but not before exchanging good nights.

Soon after Naruto and Ino climbed on their respective beds, they quickly fell asleep. In the end it wasn´t the nerves that caused their lack of sleep, but rather the bitter feeling of not talking to each other through the day…

* * *

**E/N: As always thanks for reading. If any of the readers found some mistakes or has some tips about how to improve myself... don´t hesistate on letting me know, i acknowledge that my capitalization and puntuation are my weak spot and i´m trying to improve, but diferrent points of view always help!**

**Also i will try harder on uploading faster, but i assure you all that i will see this to an end, no matter how long it takes me to! That is a promise of a lifetime!...jajajajajaja**


	5. Chapter 5 The Bells Test!

**A/N: Hi. Welcome to a new chapter of The fox Among the Mountains. Before you start reading I would like to thanks all the people who had reviewed. This story is now over the 100 reviews, something I'm proud and grateful for. Also I would like to say that I finished this chapter around 1 am, so excuse any blatant mistake i could have missed during my quick revision, but also don't hesitate on letting me know. Also I think i should let you know that this chapter contains lots of action, but also important scenes for the development of the story.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5 The Bells Test!  
**

* * *

The next morning Naruto made his towards the training ground 3, the place Kakashi told them to go for their last trial before they could call themselves true Genin of the leaf.

The sun hadn't started its shift yet, but the dawn approached with each passing minute and Naruto made sure to truly enjoy the cool air of the limbo between day and night.

Throughout years of rigorous training with Inoichi, the blond boy grew accustomed in waking up earlier than the sun, after all, his sensei had drilled into his head the meaning of the famous proverb of 'The early bird catches the worm .'

Wanting to give a good second impression to Kakashi, Naruto woke up 20 minutes earlier to prepare for the trial.

Naruto dressed up in his usual purple t-shirt, cargo shorts and sandals, but added a ninja pouch full of all the tools he sorted out for the test, into the mix.

Heeding Kakashi's words, Naruto didn´t eat breakfast and left the house as silently as a ninja mouse, but not before first taking the bento box that Mayu had made for him the night before, with him.

While approaching the clearing of the training ground, Naruto could see two shadowy silhouettes coming from the East and the West. As the distance between them receded, the figures revealed themselves to be the blond's teammates.

Sasuke seemed to have no problem in waking up so early in the morning. The Uchiha, true to his firm, stoic persona approached the clearing with an air of indifference surrounding him, but Naruto could see determination burning in the onyx eyes of the avenger.

Sakura was the total opposite. Her long and vibrant pink hair had several out of control strands poking out of her usual style. One would assume she was bound to trip as she advanced with her back hunched and her eyes phasing from open to closed in a blink of an eye.

When their paths interconnected and the three members of team 7 came face to face, they exchanged silent greeting by nodding their heads to each other and then they waited patiently for the arrival of their, hopefully, new teacher.

And so they waited…

Even when the last trace of night faded from Konoha, hope didn't left the hearts of the Genin aspirants.

Even when birds flew out their nests in search for food while chirping their famous songs just like any other day. They waited.

Team 7 expected their sensei to appear in any moment. Gazing in every direction, just like children waiting for their mother to pick them up from school. Expecting, but with blind faith that sooner or later that figure they longed so much for would appear before them.

They waited and waited and waited, while at the same time similar notions kept them busy. _'He must be about to come.'_ They thought. _'It has been an hour. Even __he__ wouldn't dare to make us wait much longer; it is an official test after all.'_ They reassured.

Poor children, they didn't have an idea of how much they were underestimating the Jōnin called Kakashi Hatake.

* * *

"You're late!"

A loud shriek scared Naruto and made him hit the back of his head against the hard bark of the tree he was resting against. He took some seconds to rub his damaged head and then he turned towards the source of the noise.

The Uzumaki saw a fuming Sakura, an irritated Sasuke and a sheepishly Kakashi.

"Sorry about that. A black cat crossed my way and I had to take the long route." The Jōnin apologized.

Sakura was about to yell something at Kakashi again, but when the man with silver hair saw Naruto coming his way, he used this as a chance to change the topic in discussion.

" Yo, Naruto. Finally up?"

The blond had to control his rising temper when he saw the man acting so leisurely after arriving hours later than the scheduled time. "I apologize. I came at the hour you told us to, but after seeing you were two hours late, I decided to rest under the shadow of a tree. I must have fallen asleep." The boy explained.

Kakashi nodded. "All right, but you must be more careful. A true ninja must always be alert to his surroundings."

There was something in Kakashi lecturing him about how a ninja should behave that make Naruto want to act the same way Sakura did just moments ago, but by biting down on his tongue Naruto succeeded in suppressing those feelings.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Hatake, after saying that reached to his back and pulled an alarm clock out of the ninja pouch that he kept secured on his waist.

"Let's see…" The man mumbled as he tinkered with the clock. "Right now is a little over ten o' clock, and if the test ends at noon that means that you guys will have a little less than two hours to complete the test."

Team 7 nodded, but when a certain blond shinobi processed the words of the Jōnin in his head, he knew something was off.

The Uzumaki turned to his teammates, his brows furrowed. "Did he say alittle over ten o' clock?" Questioned the boy.

Sakura and Sasuke shook their heads in agreement. "You slept for about three hours, dobe." Spoke the Uchiha with a little of amusement in his voice.

Naruto, for his part was not amused. _'This guy… He's the total opposite of Inoichi-sensei, dattebayo!' _The blond was visibly angered with his irresponsible team captain and he decided to let it know. "What…What kind of Jōnin are you?"

The blond's outburst surprised both the Uchiha and Sakura. They rarely ever saw the normally calm Naruto loose his composure, but it seemed that kakashi's annoying attics were too much for him.

While the young ones were shocked, Kakashi was unfazed and kept his lazy gaze fixated on Naruto. "A busy Jōnin, that's what. You're not even a Genin yet, so I doubt you can understand my responsibilities."

Naruto glowered. "Being busy isn't an excuse for being five hours late, –ttebayo!"

"Calm down, Naruto!" Sakura tried to stop the rising argument between her teammate and their sensei, but a certain alter-ego inside of her thought otherwise._** 'Cha! Go Naruto, put him in his place!'**_

The boy with the whiskers ignored the girl and continued lashing out his opinion of the silver haired shinobi. "If you can't be on time for something as important as an official test, then how can we expect you to be a proper sensei? The duties of a Jōnin-sensei are to teach, train and protect his team until they are able to it themselves, but with you as our sensei then we'll probably end up dead the first time we leave the village!"

As soon as those sharp words left Naruto's mouth a gentle breeze visited the clearing and with it Kakashi vanished. Confusion wasn't able to reach the faces of the youth; instead, they turned into shock, surprise and amazement when they saw that the Jōnin was now behind Naruto, his right hand turning the boy's hair into a spiky, blond mess and speaking with a solemn voice.

"I promise you all that if we ever go out on a mission, I'll protect you guys even if it kills me."

And then, Kakashi was gone and was once again next to the log where he placed the clock, as if he had never moved. "Of course that only applies if you pass my test, that is."

"…" Naruto kept silent.

Sakura was still dumbfounded by the sheer speed that the Jōnin demonstrated. _'No way. I couldn't even see him…' _

Sasuke wasn't in a much different state than Sakura's. He was clearly impressed, but he was also excited at the prospect of having a strong ninja teaching him. _'So this is a Jōnin…'_

When Kakashi saw that the kids were in deep in thoughts he cleared his throat to get their attentions and then spoke. "Well, we have already lost some precious time for the test thanks to grumpy here…" The Jōnin sent a look at the frowning Naruto and mentally laughed at the angered blond._ 'This is too easy!'_

"So I'll quickly explain the rules of the test so we can get started." Kakashi then pulled out a pair of bells from his pocket and showed them to the kids. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell from me will get no lunch. Also…" The tall man then pointed at one of the three stumps aligned in a row. "…I will tie you to one of these stumps and make you watch me as I eat in front of you."

In unison, the empty stomachs of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto growled like fierce beasts when the underlying motive of the 'Do not eat breakfast 'rule was revealed.

The bells jingled and the eyes of the hungry and young ninjas were drawn to them. "You only need to get one bell. There are two bells, that means that one of you will definitely be tied to a stump." Kakashi's face then turned grim. "And the person who doesn't get a bell fails. So at least one of you will be sent back to the academy."

There was silence, then a ghostly breeze blew as if emphasizing the seriousness of the situation and carrying with it the spoken words alongside several fallen leafs in its soft cradle.

Kakashi's face turned back to its normal state after that brief and tense lapse. "Don't be afraid to use tools or weapons. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"B-but you will be in danger!" An uneasy Sakura retorted.

Naruto let out a short laugh. "He is a Jōnin. We will need every kunai and shuriken in our disposal if we want to stand a chance."

"So you have finally acknowledged me? I guess you guys aren't so bad." Said Kakashi. "Ok, let's get going. Ready…"

The three soon to be Genin tensed and prepared every muscle in their bodies for the test that would decide their futures as shinobi.

"Start!"

The kids disappeared in a blur as they jumped out of the clearing and into the foliage surrounding it.

Kakashi turned his head in several directions, seemingly to search for his charges, but actually he was grading their hiding skill. He knew he didn't have to look for them; the bells hanging from his waistband would eventually lure them in, so he did what fishers do after casting the bait… He waited.

Up in the branches of a tree, Naruto watched the Jōnin from afar. His breath was slow and quiet while his movements were done with the stealth and grace of a tiger stalking a prey ignorant of its future demise.

To his surprise and irritation, the man standing in the center of the clearing produced a book from his back pouch and began to leaf through it. He was mocking them. That much was obvious. He was inciting them to attack, but at the same time he was making clear that he didn't consider any of them as a real threat to his bells.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm down. Getting mad would only hinder his chances to succeed. He had to consider all the options he had and then choose the best one.

Attacking head on was crossed out of the list, because then he would be doing exactly what Kakashi wanted. Waiting for one of his teammates to attack was another option, but Sasuke was probably considering the same idea and the blond boy was sure that Sakura would be the most hesitant in attacking of all of them.

'_Maybe a long range attack will work… no. It won't.'_ There were several meters distancing them, also the projectiles weren't sure to hit and if the Jōnin saw them approaching him, then he could probably connect the direction of the fly of the weapons with his location.

The Uzumaki let out a weary sight. The clock was ticking, he couldn't waste more time. If Sakura and Sasuke weren't going to attack, then he would have to strike first. _'Kakashi is clearly overconfident; if I can surprise him somehow then maybe I could have a chance against him…but how?'_

An imaginary light bulb lighted up on top of the blond head. _'The shadow clone jutsu that Inoichi-sensei taught me! I'm sure Kakashi won't be expecting a Genin to use that technique!'_

Naruto then smirked and formed a cross shaped hand sign with his hands. _'Let's see if I can pull this off.'_

Down in the clearing, Kakashi was enjoying his literature, but he was also wondering why the kids hadn't attacked yet. _'I didn't expect them to be this hesitant, maybe I should go after them instead?'_

As he pondered whether he should look for them or not, he heard a soft thump some feet away from him. He looked up from his book and he saw Naruto standing firmly with his hands near the first pair of side pockets of his shorts. "Ah, you finally show up. I was starting to thing you kids wouldn't even try to take the bells from me." Kakashi said as he flipped a page from his orange book.

"Ne, what are you reading?"

This time the Jōnin didn't even looked at the Uzumaki, his visible eye stuck firmly on the book. "I'll tell you when you are older."

"…"

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to come at me?"

"Aren't you going to pull that book away?" Naruto asked back.

"Don't worry about it. It won't make a difference against you guys."

Naruto took a deep breathe. _'It is now or never.'_ And pulled out from his pockets a pair of kunai. He held the knives in a reverse grip, opting to stabbing rather than slashing with them and then went to the Jōnin with a speed that surprised his teammates, but for Kakashi the blond might as well be walking.

The boy brandished his cold, black steel as he pulled his left arm across his face to gain strength for the moment he would have to plunge the blade deep into the silver haired man's chest.

Although Kakashi seemed to pay no attention to the blond he was ready to defend himself according to the situation. Naruto telegraphed his attack too soon, something that Kakashi blamed his inexperience for and therefore could be easy avoided, parried or blocked.

To the surprise of the veteran, the boy jumped back before getting into an arm distance and flung the kunai on his left hand towards the Jōnin at almost point-blank. 'A feint!' Thought Kakashi alarmed.

To the merit of the experienced ninja, he managed to dodge the surprise attack, but to do so he had to jump slightly to the left and in that brief moment when his feet were off the ground he saw a second kunai about to pierce his flesh.

He acted purely by instinct and slapped the knife away with the cover of his book, but at contact the kunai erupted in a cloud of white smoke that covered the man completely.

As soon as Kakashi parried the blade, Naruto, knowing what was about to come jumped to the ground at the right moment to avoid being hit by one of the many shuriken that whirled over his head and into the cloud of smoke where the Jōnin was last saw at.

As Naruto rose from the ground and waited for the smoke to dissipate, four clones of the said blond appeared from the trees behind him. Naruto and his clones watched nervous as the cloud began to fade, the prospect of seeing the unmoving body of Hatake with several shuriken sticking out as spines of a grotesque cactus made them shiver. _'W-well, he did say to go at him with the intent to kill…'_

To his relief, the figure that became familiar with the unforgiving edges of the Shuriken wasn't Kakashi. Instead of flesh and blood, the weapons pierced the hard bark of a log.

"You know, that was quite the ruthless attack you pulled out there."

'_A replacement!'_ When Naruto heard the voice of the lazy Jōnin he turned around to see the unscathed Cyclops leaning against a tree and reading that insufferable book of his again.

"When you threw your first Kunai at me at such a small distance I thought you wanted to hit me with it, but actually you were counting on me to evade and leave myself open for your second kunai, which it actually was a smoke bomb with a Henge on it."

Kakashi separated from the tree and approached the blond. "If you wanted to surprise me, then you certainly did so. Who would say that someone still fresh from the academy could be able to pull off an advanced Jutsu such as the Shadow clone technique?"

Naruto let out a short laugh." I know some that could do that and more by the time they were my age, isn't that right, Hatake-san?" Said Naruto in the same way a small boy would do when knowing a secret and wouldn't tell.

The Jōnin stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at the blond. _'How much does this kid know? My past isn't exactly forbidden information, but still it isn't something that a Genin should have access to…'_ Kakashi shrugged. "So, what are you going to do now? Do you still have an ace up your sleeve or are you giving up"

"Give up? I don't know the meaning of that word!" The whiskered boy then addressed the two clones on his left. "You two will be support, keep your distance!" And then he looked at the clone to his near right. "You and I will go on the offensive; we'll attack at my signal!"

As soon as Naruto was done giving orders, the clones assigned as the support moved farther away from Kakashi and the remaining blonds, while the original and the remaining clone prepared to charge.

"Now!" The words flew out of his mouth and the two blonds cladded in purple charged together in perfect synchrony.

Kakashi remained calmed for his part. He even took the luxury to change the page he finished reading as Naruto and his clone approached him on a warpath.

The first attack came from the Naruto on the left in the form of a powerful haymaker directed at Kakashi's chin. Unfortunately, the difference in height between the Jōnin and Naruto made it extremely easy for Kakashi to avoid it by only leaning his head back.

The clone attacked only slightly later that the original. The fake Naruto used a low roundhouse kick to try and take down the Jōnin, but said Jōnin jumped over it while giggling over something he read in his book.

Before his feet could touch ground, he had to block with his free hand the kick born from the momentum gained from the original Naruto's missed punch and that came over the head of the still crouching clone.

Kakashi readjusted his hand position to grab the blond's ankle and then used the body of his attacker as a weapon when he threw him towards the speechless clone.

Naruto's body flew past the cloud of smoke that came with the destruction of his clone, fell on his right side and then rolled himself back to his feet. "I need backup! Also I want someone to fill-in the empty position in the front lines!" The clones obeyed and threw a mixed rain of two Kunai and four shuriken.

In an impressive demonstration of skill, Kakashi managed to catch the Kunai that came the fastest by inserting a finger in the hole near the handle and then used it to deflect the rest of the missiles. All with his eyes still glued to the small orange book.

The clone that joined the original on the offensive tried to hit the Jōnin with a punch when he was close enough, but Kakashi simple sidestepped the attack and then dispelled the clone with a chop to the neck.

Now Naruto was gritting his teeth. He had never felt so frustrated before. Everything he tried seemed to be useless against the Jōnin. He knew there was a vast difference between the two of them, but still it seemed unreal to know that while trying his hardest he couldn't even touch his adversary, an adversary that was clearly toying with him.

The irritated boy allowed his most headstrong instincts control him for the time being. He rushed forward and lashed out with his right fist in a punch that contained all of his pent-up frustration.

Naruto regretted his reckless attack when his fist met nothing but air. "A ninja isn't supposed to get caught from behind, idiot."

Up in the trees, the still hiding kid's eyes widened when they saw their examiner crouching behind Naruto, but what really caught their attention was the position of Kakashi's hands. _'Is that the seal of the tiger? No way! Is he going to use a Ninjutsu against Naruto?'_ Thought the alarmed Sakura, but before she could alert the boy on peril, Kakashi made his move.

"**Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ōgi: Sennen Goroshi! (****Konohagakure Hiden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!)**" Hatake declared the name of his technique in an overly dramatic way and then pushed his index and middle fingers up Naruto's ass.

Kakashi expect the blond to scream in pain and fly some meters in the air because of the chakra he used in his…technique, but to his surprise, Naruto managed to save his butt by doing a quick replacement with his last clone, and now he was standing several meters away from the Jōnin.

"You sick freak! What kind of Jutsu was that?" Naruto yelled with a small blush on his face and his hands covering his rearguard.

Kakashi stood up from his crouched position and chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. "Good reflexes, I actually thought I had you this time!"

Once more, Naruto was not amused by the antics of the man. "That's it, you're going down!" The Uzumaki then went towards the edge of the clearing and jumped to a branch of a tree.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was watching the blond with a curious look as the boy jumped to the tree and then glared at him as he stood on a branch. Curiosity turned into indifference when he saw the blond doing a cross seal with his hand about to unleash a technique well known to the silver haired ninja.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Technique!)**" Suddenly, thirty-two Naruto clones appeared in the clearing, every one of them glaring at Kakashi.

The original Naruto stood above his clone like a general ready to command his troops. He acknowledged Kakashi's strength; the man was probably able to battle an army of shinobi and still win, therefore thirty-two clones of a Genin should be nothing to him. _'But, the ones that give up will never know if they could have won... Inoichi-sensei taught me that!'_

"Go!" The clones charged as soon as the order reached their ears. They may not be the strongest, fastest or smartest clones in the elemental nations, but their pride as Narutos was on the line and they wouldn't go down without a fight.

The skirmish began and soon all that Kakashi could see was purple, black and yellow. The clones had quickly surrounded him and started sending attacks at every possible angle and direction. One would think that an experienced Jōnin like Kakashi could easily handle the blonds, and they wouldn't be wrong, but the amalgam of attacks was getting closer to actually hit him.

A kick there, a kunai over there, a punch from above, Kakashi evaded or blocked them all. But when a shuriken scratched the cover of his precious Icha Icha, the Jōnin knew it was time to hide the book and show some more of his skill.

Naruto watched the battle unfold from his position on top of a branch. Even though his sea of clones didn't allow him to see his opponents, he knew for the fact that none of his clones had been destroyed so far, that they were faring pretty well.

It all changed when Kakashi got serious.

Small clouds of smoke started appearing haphazardly on the battlefield, each burst meant the death of a clone. Slowly, the dense wall of blondes began to thin out as Kakashi dispatched them.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

The clones were no longer attacking. They looked at each other in confusion instead.

Naruto could feel exactly when each one of his clones was destroyed when he focused on the task. That's why he grew worried when he counted twelve clones when there should be only eleven remaining. That could only mean two things, either he did his math wrong, or Kakashi was posing as one of his clones.

The original blond saw that his confused clones were beginning to lose their composure, therefore he decided to act before they started killing each other.

"Everyone, please calm down and pay attention to me!" Yelled Naruto. Once the clones were looking at him he continued. "I want you to gather and form four lines with three Narutos in each line."

Once more the clones obeyed and gathered in the desired formation.

'_You want to play, Kakashi? Fine, let's play.'_

Naruto cleared his throat and then addressed the clones. "My fellow Narutos, I'm afraid to tell you that there's the possibility that someone gathered here isn't one of us." Several gasps were heard coming from the clones at the same time. "But don´t worry, I know the perfect way to unmask this fake!" Naruto scanned the crowd beneath him for anything out of place, hoping that Kakashi would make a mistake and reveal himself. _'If he is here then he is hiding really well…'_ Thought the Uzumaki.

"So to find this fake we will…play Naruto says. And Naruto says, sit down!"

The group of clones reacted quickly and sat down on the dirt.

'_Morons…'_ thought Sasuke, not seeing a point in the childish exercise that the blond was doing. _'Why doesn't he just release the Jutsu?'_

Naruto nodded his head a couple of times. "Not bad. Now Naruto says, stand up!"

All the Narutos sitting in the clearing stood up immediately.

'_Good, he's playing along. It's time to end this.'_ Thought the blond as he focused his eyes on the group of clones. "Naruto says…jump!"

Kakashi, still transformed as Naruto, jumped, but then realized that he was the only one that jumped… all the clones stood completely still. 'It's a trap!' He thought as he discovered what the boy up in the tree was planning. He hoped that no one had seen him jumping, but unfortunately for him, they did.

"There he is! Get him!" Ordered the original Uzumaki as he pointed at the clone of the second line that had moved.

Kakashi saw in slow motion how all the clones surrounding him leaped at him and began punching, kicking and slashing, but even in a situation like that the Jōnin found time to ponder about how ingenious his attacker resulted to be. _'I knew that game of his was to weed me out, but I wasn't expecting it to be this way…_' Kakashi crouched under a kick aimed at his face. _'The first two rounds of his game were to make me feel a fake sense of security…' _The Jōnin punched a clone in the face and dispelled it. _'And Naruto had planned beforehand for the third round to be a feint to discover me. It was a Kage bunshin counter-countermeasure!'_

The clones stood no chance once the intial shock of Naruto's tactic faded. They gave their best, but in the end Kakashi was too much for them.

Now it was Naruto's time to be shocked when all the clones that he had spawned were reduced to only one, and that remaining Naruto resulted to be Kakashi once he dropped the Henge.

Hatake laughed as he brushed the dirt away from his pants. "That was good, but it wasn't good enough, Naruto-kun."

Kakashi then pulled out his book from the pouch again and opened it in the page that he left it. "Now, let's end this. I still have to search for Sakura and Sasuke after all.

'Darn!' Naruto mentally cursed. He was tired and hungry. He needed to retreat to recover energies and come up with a new plan, but something told him that Kakashi wasn't going to let him leave that easily. 'I need an opening.' Thought the Uzumaki.

And as if someone had heard his pleas several shuriken shot out the trees and impaled Kakashi, but once again Kakashi used the Kawarimi to switch places with a log. Naruto wasted no time and used the moment that Kakashi left the clearing (probably to track down whoever threw the weapons) as his chance to do a tactical retreat…

* * *

"…ra."

"…ura"

"Sakura!"

A pair of emerald green eyes opened slightly when their owner heard her name being called and her cheek being slapped gently. The still disoriented girl closed and opened her eyes to make the blurry world that she saw turn back to the world she knew.

She was still disoriented when flurries of memories rushed pass her mind. The girl remembered seeing her teammate and crush gravely injured, Kunai lodged in almost every avaible space on his skin, blood dripping without restrain, one of his mutilated legs twisting in such an unnatural way that would give even experienced medics the creeps, and of course the condition, or rather the lack of her beloved's right arm.

A cold shiver ran across her spine and Sakura felt she was going to pass out again, but before she lost conscience a pair of hands grabbed her by the soulders and began shaking her.

"Come on, Sakura! Stay with me!" Growled the owner of the hands grabbing her.

Sakura focused her eyes onto the still blurry figure shaking her. _'Sasu…Sasuke-kun!'_ She, still in her emotional distress, thought that the figure was her crush and immediately buried her face on his chest. Shall she had looked carefully she would have seen that the figure had spiky blond hair and blue eyes, completely different that Sasuke's black hair and eyes.

Naruto was confused to say the least. There he was being hugged by a girl that on many occasions had proclaimed her undying hate for him, it was a strange yet welcomed change to the normally aggressive Sakura. The Uzumaki needed the girl to calm down as quickly as possible so he rubbed her back in a comforting way until the pink haired girl looked up from his chest… That was when all hell broke loose.

Sakura let out a loud shriek when she acknowledged that the boy holding her was Naruto and then, with a strength that no twelve years old girl should have, pushed Naruto out of her embrace and then crawled backwards until her back hit against the body of a tree. "Naruto, what do you think you're doing?"

The blond stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants and shirts. "Waking you up, that's what."

Sakura ignored him and instead of thanking the boy, she asked something that was bugging her mind. "Sasuke-kun. Where's Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto answered to calm the agitated girl down. "He's fine; he was trapped by one of Kakashi's jutsu back in the clearing."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and then stood on shaking legs. She was about to go help her crush but Naruto stopped her. "Wait Sakura, I need to talk to you."

The Haruno snarled. "What do you want baka, I'm busy!"

Naruto frowned at her attitude. "Our time to get the bells is running out, so just hear me okay?

"That's why I don't have time for you, I need to help Sasuke-kun so we can both have a bell and you don't!" Sakura turned her back on him and began walking away.

For once, Naruto had enough of her fits so he ran up to her and stopped her from leaving by grabbing her left shoulder. "Sakura, what's the matter with you? I understand that you don't like me, I really do. But I have never done anything to you to make you hate me this much!"

Sakura surprised Naruto when she turned around and attempted to slap him all over his face. He avoided it, but ended up losing his equilibrium and fell backwards.

Now Naruto was on the ground while Sakura glared at him. So much unadulterated hate shone off her narrowed, emerald eyes that the blond boy found it impossible to look away, or even move. "Never done anything to me? Never done anything to me?" The girl's tone got higher and bitter by each word that rolled out of her tongue. "How can you be so cynical? You thief!

That broke Naruto out of his shock-filled stupor. He then stood up, walked closer to Sakura and fixed a glare at the girl accusing him of being a thief. The difference in height was minimal. Sakura stood at 148.5 cm while Naruto was slightly taller than her with his 149 cm.

"I'm not a thief, Sakura.-ttebayo!" The indignant blond exclaimed.

"Yes, you are!" Retorted the persistent girl.

"All right, Sakura. Enlighten me! What have I ever taken from you that made you call me a thief! What could you possibly have that I don't that would make me do something as lowly as stealing?"

Tears threatened to spill from the girl's eyes. Sakura was getting emotional by the intensity and direction that their argument was taking, but she refused to let _the thief_ see her cry." You…You stole my best friend!"

That totally floored Naruto. _'Best friend? What is she talking about?'_

"Sakura, you're not making any sense!"

The gal with the pink hair laughed bitterly. "Sure, act like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

While Sakura continued her rant, Naruto was still deep in thoughts. _'Her best friend… Could she be referring to Ino?'_

Suddenly a memory was displayed on his mind "Wait… Don't tell me this has something to do with what happened almost 4 years ago."

"So now you remember? Obviously I'm talking about that day in the park. The day that you took my best friend away from me!" Screamed the girl while she remembered the most painful event in all of her childhood…

**-Flashback-**

8 years old Sakura Haruno waited patiently next to a slide for her best friend to arrive to the park that they often frequented. Sakura had been told by her friend to meet her at sunset because she wanted to introduce her to a very good friend of her.

Sakura was excited at the prospect of meeting a new friend, especially someone that was apparently very special to her blonde friend.

The pink haired girl felt butterflies fluttering on her stomach when she saw her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, cheerful as always, dragging someone behind her by the hand under the orange-tinted sky. You see, Sakura had always been shy around people that she didn't know. The root of her lack of autosteem originated from the bullying that she received because of her slightly larger than the average forehead. It was until she met Ino that she started breaking out of her shell.

The nervous gal fidgeted with the red ribbon that accentuated her face in order to make some last minute adjustments. The red ribbon was a gift from Ino and the weapon that she used to battle the bullying from other kids. With it, she no longer hid her forehead behind her bangs; instead she showed it proudly to the world.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Greeted Ino with a big smile on her face.

Sakura returned the smile and the greeting. "Hi, Ino-chan!" Then she noticed the kid grabbing Ino's hand and trying to hide behind her. _'He must be Ino-chan's friend.' _Sakura was a little surprised that the friend that Ino wanted to introduce to her was a boy, but when she saw how shy the kid was, she couldn't help but think of how similar he was to her the first time that she met Ino's friend.

Having been on his shoes before, Sakura decided this time to be the assertive one. So she confidently walked to the boy behind Ino and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you!" Said the girl as she flashed the prettiest smile that she could muster.

Ino was surprised but also happy at the new and confident Sakura.

The face of the boy behind Ino was shining with happiness at Sakura's friendly attitude. That's why he no longer hesitated in greeting the girl. "Nice to meet you too, my name's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sakura's eyes widened considerably and it was then that she recognized the unmistakable spiky, blond hair and whisker marks of the loner of the playground. She immediately got away from Naruto and then turned to the confused Ino, the confident and assertive girl turning back to the insecure and meek girl that she originally was.

"I-Ino-chan, what is he doing here?" Asked Sakura as she pointed at the suddenly, downcast blond. Her arm trembled in a mixture of fear and nervousness.

Ino quirked her eyebrows, confusion clearly etched on her face. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" She asked.

Instead of answering, Sakura acted. She marched up to the blondes and pushed the boy away from her friend. The boy let go of Ino's hand as he fell to the ground and landed on his butt. Sakura then grabbed the Yamanaka's hand and led her away from Naruto.

"Are you all right, Ino-chan? Did he do anything to you?" Sakura asked Ino, but the blonde girl's eyes kept glued on the sad boy lying on the ground, even as she was being led away.

When the Yamanaka finally understood what Sakura had done, she broke the hold that the Haruno had on her hand and ran back to the side of her fellow blond.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Ino asked as she helped Naruto back to his feet.

When the saddened Naruto only nodded, Ino lashed out at the girl that had hurt him. "What's the matter with you, Sakura?"

Said girl took a step back when she heard her dear friend yelling at her. Her hands were pulled close to her chest as she spoke back. "What are you doing with him? My mom tells me I must stay away from him. You should as well, Ino-chan."

"Why should I stay away from him, because your mom says so?"

"B-b-but my mom says that…" Before the stuttering girl could finish speaking Ino interrupted her.

"It doesn't matters what your mom says, Sakura! You don't even know Naruto-kun and still you're treating him badly. Apologize to him!"

Sakura felt hurt and betrayed. Ino had never scolded her. She had never been mad at her before. But now, Ino was yelling at her with a really scary tone…and it was all because of _him_.

That kid. The boy that everyone avoided and the one her mother had told her to stay away from at all costs. So many people couldn't be wrong, right? Maybe this time it was ino the one who was wrong.

Besides, what would the other kids think if they saw her with the boy that everyone disliked? Would they start making fun of her again? Sakura shook her head at the possibility. She didn't want to go through that once more. So with that, Sakura made up her mind. Ino would have to choose between him and her.

"I-I…" After hearing herself stuttering she gathered all her courage and stood straighter. "No, Ino-chan, I won't." She then stretched her arm towards her as if inviting Ino to take it. "Come on, Ino-chan. Leave him alone and let's go play."

Sakura truly believed that Ino would take her hand, leave the boy behind and everything would turn back to normal. That's why it hurt her so much when the Yamanaka did nothing but stare at her with disapproval in the eyes that resembled hers in color.

"Ino-chan…" Naruto tried to tell her that it was okay with her leaving him, but when the girl grabbed his hand and squeezed it, she made sure to let him know that the topic wasn't up to discussion.

The pink haired girl felt tears welling up in her eyes. The platinum blonde's silence was a clear answer to her, but still, she decided to try one more time. "If he doesn't leave, I will!" Sakura wished for her words to come out with strength and security, but when the words left her mouth they were nothing more than a beg. A desperate, insecure plead for her to be chosen over the boy that was threatening their friendship.

When only silence greeted her ears, she began walking away. She really hoped that when Ino would see her leaving she would react and stop her…

But the meters distancing them kept growing and nothing ever came. No hand that prevented her from leaving came, neither her name being called was heard. The last bit of hope deep inside her died when she looked back and saw Ino dragging Naruto, again by the hand, towards the playground. Even with several meters distancing them and even over the sound of her own heart shattering into million pieces she could recognize Ino's cheerful voice. "Come on, Naruto-kun. I want you to push me in the swings! Oh, and then we could play in the slide, and then…" The loud and excited voice became a mere murmur and then transformed into silence when the pair of blonds got far enough.

Sakura's lips scrunched up and warm tears flowed without restraint down her cheeks. To her, she had been changed, by her best friend nonetheless, replaced by a boy that everyone, but Ino, disliked.

The sniffing girl cleaned her tears away with the backside of her hands, all the while hiccupping. She then untied the red ribbon that symbolized the friendship between Ino and her and let it fall to the dirt. With that final act, the still crying girl left the park, the cursed place where she had first met her best friend and ultimately the place where they separated.

Both Ino and Sakura would later learn that a bond like the one that they shared doesn't come very often…

**-End of Flashback-**

Sakura Haruno had grown with many friends, but none of them could replace Ino. She grew without someone who she could tell her deepest secrets to, without someone who she could feel completely comfortable with. And she blamed Naruto for that.

"Do you know how much it hurt when she chose you over me? Do you?" Sakura yelled at him as crystalline liquid slowly saturated her lids.

"If you hadn't come around then Ino and I would still be friends! I lost a good friend that day, and it was because of you!"

Naruto stood there with the bangs of his hair darkening his face as he took all of Sakura's verbal assault. "Selfish idiot…" He muttered.

"What was that?" Sakura was livid. Of all people, he, _the thief_, was calling her, the smartest girl in her class, an idiot!

Sakura was about to go and pummel the blond into oblivion, but then she saw how his arms were shivering and actually heard the tightening of his fists. "I said…" Naruto began. "You are a selfish idiot!"

The girl took a step back when Naruto roared the insult at her. The amount of emotion that carried his words left her speechless.

"You are always thinking about yourself! Do you know how many people you hurt that day?"

The blond then visible saddened. "That day, Ino told me she wanted me to meet a very special friend of hers, the same friend that she always used to talk about whenever she came home. I was very nervous, but Ino wouldn't take no for answer, so later that day she dragged me to the park."

Naruto looked at the strangely, quiet girl. "You remember, right? When Ino and I got to the park you were already there waiting. You exchanged greetings with Ino and then you noticed me." The Uzumaki let out a soft and short laugh. "You said hi to me with a big, cute smile on your face that instantly made my nervousness vanish."

Naruto's voice turned somber again. "But then, when you heard my name and looked at me closely you reacted the same way that many others did, and that some still do. As you may know, I didn't have many friends back then, that's why Ino wanted to introduce me to someone she thought wouldn't judge or try to hurt me. Ino may be loud…and bossy, but one of her best qualities is that she cares deeply for her friends. That's why she got mad at you when she saw you acting the way you did."

"Th-that doesn't change the fact that she chose you over me!" Sakura said.

The blond boy shook his head. "She never chose you over me…your attitude was the one who drove Ino away. Think about it. If I had been the one treating you badly, then I'm sure Ino would have gone with you back then…that's the kind of girl that Ino-chan is. She cares equally for all of her friends."

Sakura wanted to tell the blond that he was wrong, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how right he was.

"Even though Ino tried to act cheerful for my sake back in the park, I could clearly see how heartbroken she really was. That night, when I got up to go to the bathroom around midnight, I heard sounds coming from Ino's room, i got closer to her door and it was then that I realized that she was crying. I stayed by her door until Ino cried herself to sleep, and that was around two hours later."

The whiskered boy gazed sharply at the pink haired girl. "I'm not going to lie to you, Sakura. That night I didn't hate you for making one of my precious people cry… I loathed you."

He got closer to Sakura until his voice, now not more than a whisper was clearly audible. "Do you understand now how many people you hurt? You hurt Ino, you hurt me by hurting Ino, and also, you hurt yourself."

Sakura finally realized what she had done. She was the one who forced Ino into choosing between two of her friends, only because she was afraid of being rejected by being seen with Naruto. Now she realized that she got what she wanted, she had many friends… but none of them could be called _real_ friends.

The Uzumaki sighed when she saw Sakura with her hands near her chest and her emerald eyes glistening wet. "But you know… it's not too late. Although it pains me to said this, I know there are things that Ino doesn't talk to me about… things that she would only confide to someone as you, Sakura."

Sakura looked up and Naruto couldn't help but think how cute she looked like that. "D-do you really think I can mend up my friendship with Ino?"

For the first time in 4 years, Naruto send Sakura a true smile. "Of course, it is Ino-chan the one we're talking about…dattebayo!"

She returned the smile and decided to hear what the blond had to say. "So, you said you wanted to talk to me?"

Naruto mentally thanked Sakura for at least hearing him out. "Yes, I did. I think I discovered the key to pass this test.

"A key to pass the test? Are you serious?" Inquired Sakura.

The blond nodded. "While I was looking for you I remembered a piece of information I learned about Hatake-san." The girl's silence gave him the go on. "I heard that Hatake-san has tested several teams before, but none of them passed.

The Haruno seemed slightly annoyed. "So? That only proves how hard Kakashi-sensei's test really is!"

"I thought about that. But when you think about it rationally, then no Genin, no matter how talented, should be able get a bell _on his own_ if Hatake-san is serious."

"_On his own_? Are you implying that we should try and get the bells by working together?"

Naruto smirked. "As expected of the smartest of the class, you catch on quickly."

"But, but, there are only two bells and we are three on the team! One of us won't get a bell!"

"That's the key, Sakura. Tell me, if Hatake-san applied the exact same test to other teams before, then what do you think was they reaction when they saw that there were only two bells while there were three members on their teams?"

Sakura took a moment to think about it. "I think they would have reacted the same way we did. After all, I doubt anyone of them would have wanted to fail and return to the academy."

"Exactly. The natural reaction in a situation like that would be that everyone would try to get a bell by their own to pass the test. Don't you see? Hatake-san wants to make us compete against each other to get the bells; that's not the way a team should act."

Before Sakura could open her mouth to say something, the boy continued. "Yesterday I received and advise from a very wise person. He told me to look underneath the underneath. I thought really hard to to find out what he meant by that, and I think I get it now. Hatake-san is trying to pit us against each other to test if we can truly work together as a team."

"Wait. You think that Kakashi-sensei will pass us if we show him that we can work together?" The girl asked.

"Maybe." The boy shrugged. "There's really no way to be sure. But even so, I believe that working together is our best shot to get the bells."

"_Maybe_?" Now Sakura looked agitated. "What if you are wrong? What if we even work as team and somehow get the bells, one of us would still be left out!"

Naruto understood how Sakura felt. All of them had come a long way to get the chance to become shinobi and no one wished to risk that chance… but still, his intuition told him by shouts to bet on the gamble called teamwork.

"If I'm wrong, and there's not really any kind of deep meaning to this test, then…I will give the bells to you and Sasuke if we do get them." Said the blond, slightly hesistant, but with enough conviction to sound true.

Still, Sakura seemed unsure. "H-how can I believe you? How can I be sure that you won't take the bells and leave me behind?"

"The only thing I can do is give you my word on it, Sakura."

"…" Sakura was quiet. She and the blond weren't in the best of terms, for all she knew he could be lying to her. But somehow, his words seemed too sincere to even doubt about their authenticity… in the end, she decided to believe in him.

"So, what's the plan? Better yet, do you even have a plan?"

Naruto was really surprised that the girl would give in and believe him so quickly, but he wasn't going to complain. "I do have a plan. But first we need to get Sasuke and persuade him to help us with it."

'_Oh, I can't believe I forgot about Sasuke-kun!'_ Sakura turned around and began heading towards the clearing. "Naruto, what are you waiting for? We need to help Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto chased after her. _'Some things never change…'_

* * *

'_Damn him…'_ For the twentieth time in a row, Sasuke cursed Kakashi. The man had caught him distracted and now he was paying the price for his mistake.

The blazing rays of the sun rained down on the only part of his body that was exposed to the eyes of the sky, that being his head. Besides the horrible heat, there was also the menace of the curious ants that would approach his vulnerable face and some of the bastards would even bite him, producing an itch that he was unable to satisfy.

'_Damn him…'_ He cursed again, raising the count to twenty-one. The first thing that he would do after getting out of the hole was frying the Jōnin with his fireball to pay him back for his humiliation.

'_At least Naruto and Sakura aren't here to see me like this…'_ Sasuke thought, finding solace in his solitude.

"Hey, Sasuke! I guess you were a little in over your head, huh?"

The buried boy frowned when he recognized the voice mocking him as Naruto's. And true enough, Naruto and Sakura soon appeared into his line of vision.

"Naruto, stop making fun of Sasuke-kun!" Screeched Sakura as she sent and evil look towards her blond teammate.

"Geez, Sakura, Relax; it was only a joke…dattebayo."

Naruto and Sakura came closer to Sasuke until they were just a couple of feet away from his, well, head. Immediately, Sakura began digging him out while Naruto talked to him. "Sasuke, we need to talk. So stay there and listen." The blond snickered at the end, but simultaneous glares coming from Sasuke and Sakura shut him up.

The Uzumaki then told him how he believed that teamwork was the key to pass the test, or at least to get the bells. In essence, he told him the same that he said to Sakura about how he came to that conclusion.

At first, Sasuke, who believed that working together with the blond and the girl would only slow him down, refused to team up with them. He was genuinely surprised when Sakura began supporting Naruto, and slowly the idea of working together with them became more bearable. The pressure of knowing how little of time was left also helped for the raven haired boy to consider the blond proposal, but it was until the blond said that he would give him and Sakura the bells if they got them, that he made his decision. _'The time is running out. I guess there's no other way…' _Finally, the Uchiha had given in…

"Great, now I will tell you what I'm planning, but first…" The blond rummaged through the lowest pockets of his shorts and pulled out a pair of ration bars.

He passed them to Sakura and said. "Eat. You will need your energies for what's to come; I will take over the task of getting the Uchiha out." He then shrugged. "We have no time to loose, I don't know how much the original Naruto can distract Hatake-san, so you will have to feed Sasuke will I get him out and explain the plan."

Sakura squealed at the prospect of feeding her precious Sasuke-kun, while the buried boy paled. "Wait. What do you mean with the original Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto's face took an expression of realization. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I guess I forgot. Look, I'm a clone that was created to look for Sasuke and you while the original distracted Hatake-san, it would be bad if he hears what we are planning, wouldn't it?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, they were still unsure on how the so called Shadow clone technique, but that would have to wait for another time.

Without further ado, Sakura excitedly kneeled near Sasuke's head, removed the wrapping of the ration bar and finally presented it to Sasuke's mouth. "Come on, Sasuke-kun, say 'ahhh'"

Sasuke turned to the blond, and for a moment the Uchiha seemed to be silently pleading for him to do something. _'I'm sorry, Sasuke. But it's me or her, and I'm not going to feed you!'_ Thought Naruto.

Somehow, Sasuke understood and relented to his fate. He opened his mouth and chomped on the ration bar resulting in another loud squeal courtesy of the pink haired girl.

"Is it good, Sasuke-kun?" The thrilled girl asked.

The blushing avenger only produced his distinctive "Hm." And continued eating.

* * *

'_Time is almost up…'_ One Kakashi Hatake thought as he entered the clearing.

After he took care of Sakura with a Genjutsu and of Sasuke with a Ninjutsu, he decided to look for the blond that had escaped him earlier.

He found him deep inside the forest and then they began their _fight_. Trutfully, Kakashi was only playing with Naruto. It seemed to Kakashi that Naruto was out of ideas, because all that he did was spamming clones and sent them at him.

He played with the boy for a while, but when he decided that it was time to end it Naruto created another wave of clone, this time he made them disperse through the forest at the same time that he escaped.

It was needless to say that Kakashi went to a wild-goose chase for a while.

In the end he didn't find the blond, but it wasn't because he lacked skill, no. Kakashi simply grew bored.

That's why he was currently sitting on his haunches, looking at the still buried Uchiha right in the eyes. "How are you holding up, Sasuke-kun?" He asked.

"Damn you." Growled the Uchiha.

"Yare yare, you still need to work on your attitude. I guess one more hour on the hole would be good for you."

"…"

"Hey, Kakashi!"

Kakashi stood up when he heard his name being called." Good, you have joined us. I was about to go look for you, time's almost over, you know."

Naruto was accompanied by five clones, each one of them with a look of determination on their faces. "Never! I will pass this test and become Hokage, dattebayo!"

The Jōnin raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay? You are acting a little bit…off."

"The only thing off here is your haircut!" An eye of the Jōnin actually twitched because of the remark.

"Now, Go!" The Naruto, which Kakashi deemed as the original, pointed at him and instantly the five clones rushed at him.

The clones stood no chance against Kakashi, but as soon as he dispatched five copies, another wave of four Narutos approached him from his right.

The first clone was quickly dispelled by a punch to the ribs.

The second clone that came slightly behind the first one tried to sock Kakashi in the face. Kakashi countered with a punch on his own. Kakashi's arms were longer, so naturally the fist that connected first was his. The clone was punched right in the face, but this one didn't disappear, instead he tried to breach Kakashi guard and reached for the bells.

The eyes of the silver haired man widened at this and he reacted by grabbing the intruding hand, twisted it and then pushed the blond to the ground. _'Is this one the original?'_

While Kakashi was inmobilizing the Naruto on the ground, another clone sneaked behind him and jumped on his back.

Hatake stopped the arms on his neck befgore they could get him into a chokehold and performed a flawless hip throw. The clone disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

The remaining two clones attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks before Kakashi could breathe out a sigh of relief.

The attacks forced him to take a few step backs, but then he felt a sudden source of hit approaching him from his blind side. He turned his head to see what was it only to gasp as he saw a big fireball soaring towards him. _'What? Does Naruto also know the __Gōkakyū no Jutsu?'_

Kakashi jumped back and barely evaded the fire ball, but this time he wasn't unscathed. The sleeves of his shirts were burned as he had used his arms to block the heat of flames. The clones that were attacking him were destroyed by the passing ball of orange fire.

The Jōnin glared at the Naruto that he assumed had launched the jutsu; coincidentally it was the same Naruto that had made a jab about his hair. That Naruto lowered his hand from the characteristically ring made with his hand that was usually used in that particular jutsu and smirked.

Kakashi was about to ask him what was so funny when he was attacked by the remaining Naruto. The Naruto that he had forced to the ground.

The Jōnin winced when he blocked a kick with his singed left arm; the Naruto then threw himself at the Jōnin and latched to his arm.

Kakashi tried to shook him off but the Naruto held on with a grip of steel. The Jōnin, slightly worried, was about to resort to more aggressive ways, when the remaining Naruto, the one who threw the fireball, attempted a jumping reverse-roundhouse kick. Kakashi grabbed the leg of his assailant with his free hand, but the Naruto twisted his body in midair, grabbed the Jōnin's vest by the neck and at the same time flashed a smirk very similar to that of a certain Uchiha.

On his attempt to block the attacks of the blonds, Kakashi didn't see that he was actually being lead towards the still buried Sasuke. When the two Narutos saw that Kakashi was just about a step away from Sasuke's head, they yelled. "Now, Sakura!"

The ground beneath Kakashi's feet rumbled lightly and then a mighty war-cry was heard. "Shannaro!" Sasuke shot out of the hole he was in, dust and small pebbles following him as he stretched his arms and reached for Kakashi's waist, reached for the bells and to victory…

* * *

"I'm proud of you!" Kakashi eye-smiled as his now students celebrated their victory, bells in the hands of Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi had to admit that the Genin had shown a great display of teamwork. The Naruto that launched the fireball was actually Sasuke with a Henge and the Sasuke that was in the hole was actually Sakura. They told him that they had got Sasuke out of the hole beforehand and then Sakura got in, but this time they buried her in a way that she could get out easily.

Naruto and Sasuke worked together pretty well as they drove him towards the waiting and disguised Sakura ready to take the bells from him… all in all, he was impressed.

It seems that Naruto was the one that came out with the basic of the plan, while Sasuke and Sakura gave their opinions on how to improve it.

"Well, I don't have more to say except…Sasuke, Sakura, you pass!"

Sakura squealed happily and Sasuke gave a small grin, but then they realized something was amiss. "Sensei, why didn't you mention Naruto?" The girl asked.

"Because he didn't get a bell, that means he failed."

Naruto was flabbergasted. "B-b-but, what about the key to the test, wasn't this a test so you could see if we were able to work together? You know, look underneath the underneath?"

Kakashi eye-smiled again. "Now, where did you get that idea?"

Naruto was still trying to find a way to convince Kakashi to pass him when Sasuke interrupted his stuttering. "Naruto, catch."

Acting on instinct Naruto caught the small object that Sasuke had thrown at him. When he opened his palm he saw what the object was… It was the half of a bell.

Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi turned towards Sasuke who was now putting a Kunai back into his Kunai holster. "He now has a bell, so I don't see how he fails." The raven haired boy said.

'He really has grown up…" Kakashi thought after seeing the boy risking his own chance at passing because of his teammate.

"Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called thrash…" The Genin cringed thinking that Kakashi was going to scold them. "But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades…are lower than thrash."

The Jōnin then gave the kids a thumb up. "Congratulations Team 7, you pass!"

* * *

**E/N: As always thanks for reading! So, yeah, I've been thinking and I got to the conclusion that now with my reduced writing time (College...) it may get easier for me to make some mistakes, that's why i'm seriously considering getting a betta to help me with grammar and the such. So if anyone has free time and would be so kind as to help me by being my beta reader i would be forever grateful!**

**Nos vemos luego! **

**Taco & Sombrero**


	6. Chapter 6 How to Mend a Friendship P1

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't been updating frequently. I used to be a responsible author, then I took an arrow in the knee...lie. Actually I spent most of my free time playing Skyrim. Anyway, good news everyone! I finished Skyrim a couple of times already so I feel pretty much satisfied with it, and also I broke my foot meaning: Less things to do = More time to write! =D**

**OK, this chapter is actually pretty short, but hopefully it will help me to get back into the mood I need to continue updating.**

**As always, Thank you readers and reviewers!**

**Disclaimer: ****This is a work of fiction, I do not own Naruto or any of its character.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: How to Mend a Friendship. Part 1**

* * *

'_I can't believe I'm doing this…'_ One Sakura Haruno thought.

She was standing in the middle of a street of Konoha's commercial district with her eyes fixed on the very well-known flower shop, and building that housed the local mind-walkers, the Yamanaka clan.

Pots and baskets full of flowers posed near the open door and windows of the large building painted in a light yellow, inviting with their charms any passerby to enter and become another costumer of the renowned shop.

She turned around and sent a glance to the grinning boy poking out of the corner of a building who was sending her a thumps-up.

The girl sighed.

'_I guess it's now or never. This better works, Naruto, or else…'_

She left the threat hanging in her mind as she began to approach the entrance of the shop. _'How did I let myself be convinced into doing this…?'_ She wondered.

**-Flashback-**

It had been another eventful day for team 7. A day filled with dangerous and exciting ninja missions such as cleaning the halls of the academy, painting fences with the skill only a dedicated shinobi could achieve and, of course, the weekly chase of their stronger foe, the legendary escapist cat himself, Tora.

They had just finished their last mission of the day and the Genin where exhausted.

A tall silver haired man huffed. "Nothing beats walking dogs at breaking a sweat. Isn't that right, guys?" Kakashi asked as he dried nonexistent sweat from his brow.

The three Genin glared at their sensei.

"If I had to spend time with a fleabag I'd rather spend it with Kiba, at least he knows better that stopping at every corner to take a pee… I think." Naruto said from his position next to the Uchiha, who was currently leaning against the side of a sturdy tree.

Sasuke actually smirked in amusement at the jab at the Inuzuka.

"Naruto, that wasn't nice!" Scolded Sakura. The bubblegum haired gal was sitting on her knees under the shade of the same tree that Sasuke was leaning against; her dress drenched in sweat proved as the evidence of the rigorous assignments they had gone through.

Kakashi noted that the blond of the team was unusually quiet; he turned to him and saw that the young boy had a scowl marring his facial traits. "Is something the matter, Naruto? You seem kind of irritated."

A deep sigh flew out the Uzumaki's lips. "I apologize, taichou. It's just that… when are we going to start doing missions?"

"We are already doing missions." Kakashi replied.

"I mean _real_ missions, not chores for the neighbors like we have been doing so far." Naruto clarified.

The Uchiha and the Haruno looked at the silver haired man, both waiting for the answer to the question that had been in the minds of the Genin for a while now.

The Jōnin's answer was: "You will do higher ranking missions when you're ready. D-rank missions are important to allow us to know each other so we can perform properly as a team."

The kids visually deflated at the typical protocol answer that their Sensei gave them.

"Now, now, pouting will do no good. Tell you what, you three continue doing the missions as you have been doing so far, and I'll make sure to talk to the Hokage about a giving us a C-rank one of these days."

The possibility of doing a higher ranking mission and not those tedious D-ranks excited the Genin, Sasuke and Naruto especially so.

"Hmm, I think that's all for today. Remember that tomorrow we have our day off, so use it to relax. See you later, guys." As soon as Kakashi finished speaking he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, gone to do whatever he did in his free time.

Now with Kakashi gone, it didn't take long for Sasuke to separate from the tree and go on his way.

Sakura wanted to go after her crush and try to convince him to go on a date with her, but her legs didn't seem to be working properly, so she decided to wait a couple of minutes to recover from her fatigue.

While she was resting she heard footsteps coming her way. She raised her head and saw that Naruto was in front of her, his arms crossed around his chest.

Sakura was too tired to deal with Naruto, so she just ignored his continuous stare.

One minute later, the girl became unnerved by the way the blond was looking at her.

"What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She questioned, slightly irritated.

Naruto sighed. "When are you planning to go repair your friendship with Ino?"

"Oh…" Now the girl seemed hesitant in answering. "I'll go when I'm ready, Naruto."

"It's been two weeks since the first time you said that." Replied the blond. "How much longer are you going to postpone it?"

"It isn't easy, Baka!" Sakura lashed out. "I can't just march up to her and say that I'm sorry!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Why not?"

"It's…girls stuff. You wouldn't understand…" The dejected Sakura muttered.

'_Damn right I don't.'_ Naruto let out a sigh. The blond often thought that being straightforward in that kind of stuff was the best course of action, but Obviously, Sakura wasn't going to act on her own, and if left alone, the matter would soon be forgotten.

"I'll help you." Stated Naruto out of the blue, causing Sakura's eyes to fly wide open.

"How?" She questioned. The grinning face of her teammate told her everything she needed to know…Naruto had a plan.

**-End of Flashback-**

Now, as Naruto observed Sakura disappear into the threshold of the yellow building, he couldn't help but feel anxious and curious about the outcome of the meeting between the two former best friends. He could only hope that everything goes just fine.

* * *

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop!" Ino greeted without even glancing at whoever had entered, or even raising her eyes off the fashion magazine she was currently reading.

"You really know how to treat customers, Ino-pig."

A frown made its way into Ino's visage. She closed her magazine and said. "What do you want, Sakura? I'm working; I don't have time to hear you talk about how _great_ you think Sasuke is."

Sakura snickered. "Well, I'm sure you're _very_ busy," Said Sakura turning her head side to side around the obviously empty store. "But I'm not here to talk about Sasuke-kun."

"Then get out if you're not here to buy anything. Your monstrous forehead may scare the customers away."

'_Calm down, Sakura. Don't let her rile you up. Stick to the plan…just stick to the plan.'_ The pinkette took a deep breath to calm down. The last thing she needed was start an insult match with Ino while trying to be friends with her again.

"Har har har, very funny, pig," Sakura laughed sarcastically. "Believe me when I say that I'm tempted to use one of the many comebacks I already have planned, but unfortunately, I'm not here for you. I'm here for Naruto."

"Naruto?" Ino pushed her magazine away. "What do you need Naruto-kun for?" Ino's green, almost blue eyes were narrowed in obvious distrust towards the pink haired Kunoichi.

"I just want to pass him a message."

'_A message?'_ Ino's inner gossiper perked up at hearing that.

"Well, Sakura, Naruto-kun isn't at home right now, but you can leave the message and I'll make sure that he gets it." The Yamanaka attempted to make Sakura spill the beans, but she didn't fall for it.

"Nice try, Ino, but this is a secret message only for the ears of members of Team 7."

"Tch…" Ino wasn't happy with her failed attempt at getting the info, but let it be. _'Whatever. If it's something related to her squad then it must be about something boring like training or missions…'_ She reasoned.

"But still," Sakura began. "Naruto told me his shift started at 2 o'clock but I don't see him around here…any ideas where I could find him?"

The platinum blond turned her gaze at the small, circular clock hanging from the wall…2 o'clock. Sakura was right; it was time for Ino's shift to end and for Naruto's to start.

"Who knows?" Ino shrugged. "He should already be here."

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed as she looked around the shop. "Do you mind if I wait for him here? It's really hot outside"

Ino seriously thought about saying no, but she could get in trouble if Sakura got a heatstroke just outside of the store…might be bad advertisement. "You can stay if that's what you want, but don't break anything!"

A scoff coming from Sakura let Ino know that she had heard her. So without more interruptions, Ino returned to her literature.

The shop was silent. Sakura was strolling around the store admiring pots of different size and shape, but all of them brimming with colorful flowers and plants.

She turned back to Ino to see her still deeply engrossed into her magazine. _'Now's my chance!'_

"Is that _Konoha's Vogue_ latest edition?" Sakura asked trying to sound surprised.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, no reason, I just wanted to let you know that Sasuke will soon be my boyfriend when he sees me wearing the new _Kunoichi Laundry_ Nika boots…"

Ino just ignored her the way she always did whenever Sakura started talking about Sasuke.

"In pink color…"

Now that got her attention.

Any fashionable kunoichi that respected herself knew that the Nika boots _of Kunoichi laundry_ didn't come in pink.

"Sakura, what are you talking about? There aren't any Nika in pink." Replied Ino, her full attention now centered in Sakura.

Sakura shook her head. "Ha, I guess the great Ino isn't that knowledgeable in the latest fashion trend."

Ino frowned. Was her fashion knowledge being looked down upon, by Sakura nonetheless?

"I'm not wrong. I'm pretty sure there aren't any Nika boots in that color." Ino replied still frowning.

Sakura crossed her arms. "Well then, let me be the first one to tell you that you are wrong, dear Ino. I saw a pair of pink Nika in the commercial district just the other day." Sakura replied with so much confidence that Ino started to doubt herself.

"_Nika in pink? No, it can't be…'_ The platinum blonde couldn't fathom that such a thing could exist. _'No, I refuse to believe in that!'_

"You're lying." She finally said.

Sakura smirked. "You sound awfully confident in that. Want to bet on it?"

"What do you have in mind?" The Yamanaka refused to back down.

Sakura's smirk grew even wider. _'Hook, line and sinker. I got you know, piggy!'_

"How about we go to the commercial district so we can see who is in the wrong here?"

Ino nodded. "Sounds good to me… What are the stakes?"

"The loser, in this case you, has to pay for a full lunch in no less than in the _Green Leaf_!" Answered Sakura and in turn made Ino frown at the loser comment.

"Fine, I accept, Billboard Brow!" Ino accepted, hell-bent in showing Sakura who the best was.

"Good, as soon as I give Naruto the message we'll go."

"Wait! You mean like today?"

"Of course I did! Did you seriously think I would let you cheat your way out of this one?" Asked Sakura. "You're not afraid, are you?"

Ino let out a short laugh. "Afraid? Me? Ha, don't make me laugh. You're on, Forehead!"

The two glared at each other. The competitiveness between the two girls made sparks fly out of the two gal's eyes.

It was then that the door's bell chimed, indicating that someone had entered the store. The girl broke their glaring contest to see who it was.

…It was Naruto.

"Sorry I'm late, Ino-chan!" Naruto apologized as he quickly made his way to the counter.

It was then that he noticed Sakura. "Hey Sakura, what are you doing here?"

The pink haired Genin huffed. "I was waiting for you, idiot! Seriously, what took you so long?"

Naruto tilted his head. "You were waiting for me? What for?"

Sakura quickly approached Naruto. Once she was close enough, she raised her head a little bit so her mouth would be directly next this ear and then began whispering something to him.

…Ino unconsciously broke a pencil that she had in her gasp in half.

When Sakura finished with telling him the message, she separated from the blond and said. "That's it. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it, Sakura."

"Good," She then turned to the still fuming Ino. "With that done, shall we get going?"

Ino nodded and began to untie the apron that she wore over her clothes.

Naruto looked between the two girls. He seemed honestly confused. "Huh? Are you two going somewhere?"

Ino walked to the front of the counter, passed the apron to Naruto and said. "Yeah, we're going to the commercial district. Can you believe this girl? She said that there are Nika in _pink._ In pink I say!"

The Uzumaki didn't have a clue about what the hell was a Nika, but nodded nonetheless. "Ugh. Sure, Ino-chan."

The Yamanaka had always been irked at the lack of importance that Naruto gave to fashion, but she didn't have time to educate him. She had a bet to win.

"Let's go, Sakura." After saying that, Ino made her way towards the door, with Sakura following close behind.

"Wait! Aren't you forgetting something, Ino-chan?"

The girls turned to Naruto to see what he wanted only to see him already wearing the apron and with his right hand up in the air.

Realization hit the girl with the golden ponytail. "Oh, right!" and approached Naruto while also raising her right hand. "Tag switch!" She called out when her hand met Naruto's.

Sakura scoffed at their antics. _'Dorks…'_

Once that was over with, Ino returned to her position near Sakura while Naruto moved to the back of the counter. His shift had officially started.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at Ino as if asking if she was ready.

Ino nodded and went outside.

The pink haired girl lagged behind only for a moment to nod at Naruto and then went after the young Yamanaka.

With the girls now gone, Naruto had the whole store for himself. He grinned mischievously. _'There's no way I'm missing this…dattebayo.'_ And made an all too familiar cross-shaped hand seal.

* * *

**E/N: Yeah... short, I know. **

**Critique and helpful tips to improve are always accepted, so don't be afraid of clicking the small review button below!**

**Gracias y buenas noches, gente!**

**Taco & Sombrero**


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